Burdekin crime: Pet store employee comes face-to-face with armed robber at Home Hill

A masked, wannabe robber bailed out of a North Queensland shop theft when he came face-to-face with customers, fleeing on a stolen buggy down a dirt road.

• Townsville City Council is appealing for information about park vandalism
• Rurik Naess-Henry honoured by family and friends after his death

A MASKED wannabe robber bailed out of a North Queensland shop theft when he came face-to-face with customers, fleeing on a stolen farm buggy.

My Pets Home Hill employee Amee Hoekman was shocked to see a man armed with a shovel come “racing in” to the Eighth Avenue store as she was serving two customers on Wednesday afternoon.

“We heard something, we looked through the window and a farm buggy comes in,” Ms Hoekman said.

My Pets Home Hill employee Amee Hoekman came face-to-face with a man armed with a shovel in an attempted armed robbery at the store on Wednesday.

“One bloke jumps out, hoodie on, all the way up to his eyes, his whole face was blocked.

“Shovel in hand, shovel up, and walked in.”

The masked man, who Ms Hoekman believed was in his 20s or 30s, froze at the sight of customers, and ran back towards his mate waiting on the farm buggy.

“I think they thought nobody was here, but because the customers were here they left.

“I think they were planning on doing something.

“If I had been on my own maybe (it would have been different).”

The men fled on the stolen farm buggy, turning down an unsealed road in Home Hill.

Police were hot on their tail after Ms Hoekman reported the incident, but the men took off into an unsafe area, and police called off the pursuit.

The men have not been found, and police are still investigating.

Originally published as Burdekin crime: Pet store employee comes face-to-face with armed robber at Home Hill