Man charged after allegedly terrorising female employee at Westmeadows Tavern
A man accused of terrorising a Westmeadows Tavern employee and sending nearby streets into lockdown before slipping away as heavily armed police surrounded the pub has been arrested.
North West
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A man accused of terrorising a Westmeadows Tavern employee and sending surrounding streets into lockdown has been arrested.
Armed Crime Squad detectives swooped on the 58-year-old at noon on Wednesday at a private premise on Bonds Lane, Westmeadows after a month-long investigation.
The arrest comes after a 45-year-old woman who worked at the venue was allegedly held against her will in the early hours of March 2.
Dozens of heavily armed police and members from the Special Operations Group searched the northern suburbs pub for more than four hours without success after being called to the scene at 5am and entering the tavern about 10am.
Sergeant Cameron Scott said officers responded to reports that two people, armed with firearms, had confronted a woman.
“Shortly after police arrived, the woman ran from the venue stating she had been held inside,” he said.
“The woman was not physically harmed.”
The allegedly armed bandits may have slipped away as police were working to set up a cordon and get into position, Hume Inspector Anthony Brown said at the time.
He said the experience would have been “very violent and traumatising” for the woman before she managed to escape.
The 58-year-old was charged with armed robbery, false imprisonment and aggravated burglary.
He was remanded to face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
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