VIDEO: Wanted fugitive Alex Blake and girlfriend arrested after putting Leigh Creek into lockdown
Police footage shows the final moments of a high-speed pursuit through SA’s Far North, which ended in the arrest of fugitive Alex Blake and his girlfriend after three-day manhunt.
SA News
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Footage has emerged of a dramatic high-speed pursuit as police moved in on fugitive Alex Blake and his girlfriend in the state’s Far North on Wednesday.
After a three-day manhunt, police arrested the pair – believed to be armed with a gun – after a raid on a remote property near Warraweena.
Queenslander Alex Blake and his partner had been on the run from authorities since crossing the SA border on Monday, allegedly evading the checkpoint in a stolen car.
STAR Group officers arrested the pair in the stolen Toyota HiLux Utility at a Warraweena property southeast of Leigh Creek, and east of Beltana, in the northern Flinders Ranges just after midnight.
Blake, 28, and a 30-year-old woman, both from Queensland, were taken to Port Augusta police station on Wednesday night. Blake was charged on Thursday with three counts of theft, two counts of dangerous driving to escape police and failing to comply with a direction under the Emergency Management Act. The woman was charged with three counts of theft and failing to comply with a direction.
The couple is expected to face Port Augusta Magistrates Court on Friday.
Queensland Police are expected to extradite Blake once the SA charges have been finalised.
He is wanted for questioning over an assault and stabbing incident on August 8 at Ooralea, near Mackay.
On Wednesday, the manhunt forced the township of Leigh Creek into lockdown as police closed in on the pair.
The couple was spotted in the HiLux travelling south along Belton Road at Carrieton just after 1pm on Wednesday. The white ute had unassigned number plates and was reported stolen from Queensland on Sunday.
Police then saw the car travelling north along R M Williams Way, near Craddock, about 3.45pm before it turned right onto Flinders Ranges Way.
The car was tailed at a distance as it headed through Hawker and towards Parachilna along the Outback Highway.
The Leigh Creek Outback Resort put out an alert on social media just after 5pm warning residents in the town to remain indoors while the high-speed chase continued.
The PolAir helicopter tracked the car as it continued along the Outback Highway towards Leigh Creek, where it turned onto Old Beltana Rd and headed north before turning onto Warraweena Station. The vehicle then stopped in scrub and the couple was arrested.
Leigh Creek Outback Resort worker Joel Austin said police spoke to his manager around 5pm warning them to remain inside.
“I wasn’t too stressed, you would hope the police have it under control,” Mr Austin said.
The HiLux was involved in a petrol drive-off at Innamincka, near the Queensland border around 3pm on Monday. Police say that it sped towards a man in the town.
The pair were again spotted in the stolen vehicle at Hawker, in the Flinders Rangers, where they allegedly filled up their tank of petrol again without paying at a local service station.
Originally published as VIDEO: Wanted fugitive Alex Blake and girlfriend arrested after putting Leigh Creek into lockdown