Man charged over Lennox carjacking

A TERRIFYING carjacking incident has shocked residents in the normally quiet village of Lennox Head.

Oone-off: Ross Street in Lennox Head where the carjacking occurred last Tuesday. . Picture: Jay Cronan

A TERRIFYING carjacking incident has shocked residents in the normally quiet village of Lennox Head.

Police say a knife was used in the attack, which happened in Ross Street, near the Lake Ainsworth Caravan Park, last Tuesday at 3.30am.

On Sunday, Ballina detectives arrested and charged a 41-year-old man from Broadmeadows.

He has been charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon, use of an offensive weapon to commit an indictable offence and take and drive a conveyance without consent of the owner.

Police yesterday confirmed the weapon used by the man was a knife, but would not say what kind.

They said the offender confronted a 36-year-old man in Ross Street, Lennox Head, with the knife. The man was not injured in the incident.

The offender then stole the man’s 2008 Nissan utility and building tools worth $4000.

The car was later involved in an incident in Brisbane, in which the driver left a petrol station without paying.

It is understood the offender was in Lennox Head on holidays and staying at the Lake Ainsworth Caravan Park.

He appeared in bail court in Lismore on Sunday, where bail was refused.

The man will appear in the Lismore Local Court on Thursday.

Despite the carjacking, members of the Lennox Head Residents’ Association feel their town has become safer in recent times.

President Fred Goodman said the village had been ‘pretty quiet’.

“We don’t seem to be getting the Friday and Saturday night problems that we used to get,” he said.

“The police patrols seem to be more frequent.”

Louise Owen, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the carjacking was a ‘scary, one-off’ incident.

“I would not say for oneminute that Lennox is getting more of that kind of criminal behaviour,” she said.

Originally published as Man charged over Lennox carjacking