Eton Hotel: Nathan Keioskie holds down alleged man with knife in pub hold-up

A small-town pub has thanked its patrons after a man armed with a knife allegedly threatened punters and staff in a ‘hold-up’. Read what happened next.

A small-town pub has reached out on social media to thank its patrons after a simple lunch crowd witnessed an alleged armed robbery attempt.

A 39-year-old Caboolture man was arrested and charged with entering a premise and committing an indictable offence, as well as common assault, on January 20, 2022.

Hotel Eton wrote on its Facebook page that the man allegedly tried to steal from the cash register when staff were distracted.

“A person removed money from a cash register while bar staff were busy in another area and left with the money,” the post said.

“What later happened is a matter for the police to investigate, he did leave in an ambulance and we will leave it at that.”

An Eton couple recalled the moment they arrived at the pub for a simple bite but were instead confronted with a man armed with a knife attempting to “hold-up” the rural watering hole.

“We had just arrived and there was a lot of commotion, yelling and whatnot,” the man said.

He said the commotion was coming from the nearby dongas where a young man had approached the man armed with a knife.

The Hotel Eton

“There was a young fella squaring up with old mate,” the witness said.

“Old mate had a knife on him, but the young fella got the best of him.

“It was pretty shocking.

“But the young fella got a good hook on him and put him on the ground.”

The witness said Nathan Keioskie — the young fella who saved the day — held the man to the ground until police came a few minutes later.

Paramedics took the Caboolture man to Mackay Base Hospital shortly after 3pm.

He was treated for facial injuries but was in a stable condition.

Mr Keioskie said he was just doing what he thought was right and was glad no-one got hurt.

“Any bloke would have done the same thing,” he said.

But witnesses say they were in shock that something like this could be happening in their small town.

“When all the squad cars pulled up and they declared a crime scene, we thought ‘oh my god this is happening in Eton,” a witness said.

“It’s pretty shocking, not much happens in these rural towns.”

The man will appear in Mackay Magistrates Court on March 14.