Toorak Village jewellery store robbed by machete-wielding thieves
UPDATE: A BRAVE Toorak jeweller who stood up to an armed bandit holding a pistol to his head has modestly said: “I’m no hero.” WATCH VIDEO
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A BRAVE Toorak jeweller who stood up to an armed bandit holding a pistol to his head has modestly said: “I’m no hero.”
Dramatic CCTV footage showed three men enter Imp Jewellery in Toorak Rd shortly before 11am yesterday before two of the men — one armed with a machete and the other with a baseball bat — started smashing up the glass counters.
One of the men pointed a gun at the head of manager Stevan Morrow and demanded he open the safe.
But Mr Morrow, 48, refused to cower to the robber’s demands, remonstrating with the masked men before chasing them towards the entrance — even pushing the gunman out the front door.
CLUES: Scroll down to see the jewellery snatched in the robbery
The trio escaped with jewels valued at more than $200,000 during the two minute smash-and-grab raid before fleeing in a getaway car.
Mr Morrow, who has worked at the store for 25 years, said he was determined that the thieves would not escape with any more jewels.
“I was out the back when I heard the smash of glass and when I came into the shop I was confronted by three masked guys,” Mr Morrow said.
“Instinct took over so I got the two girls out of the way and just went from there.
“I can’t repeat what I said to them.
“I just didn’t want them to get the best of me so I stared them down and said: ‘Get out of my shop’.
“I was a bit surprised when they started retreating.
“I don’t think they were expecting me to react the way I did and it may have thrown them off as they all just looked at each other and ran out the door.”
Mr Morrow, who received numerous visits from well-wishers today, insisted he was no hero.
“Brave, stupid; I’m not quite sure, it could go either way but I’m not a hero,” he said.
“What police go through every day, doctors, they’re heroes.
“It was confronting watching the footage afterwards, it was almost like a surreal experience that still hasn’t happened.”
Jewellery stolen in the heist
Here are several items of distinctive jewellery taken in the robbery yesterday:
Co-owner Denis Kelleway praised Mr Morrow’s actions.
“He’s a hero, but he doesn’t want that tag as he’s so modest,” Mr Kelleway said.
“He saved the girls, he was just amazing.
“If there’s a war in the trenches, Stevan’s the guy you want.
“He showed no fear, he has my admiration and he’s just a lovely guy.”
Mr Morrow has returned to work today.
“I think it’s a case of you just get on with it that’s all you can do,” he said.
“They are not going to get the best of me.”
Staff member Elaine Frankie French was the first to have the gun pointed at her by the lead bandit during the two-minute ordeal.
“The one with the gun ran in and pointed it at my face and said, ‘Show me the safe’,” she said. “The gun was about an inch from my nose, then he said: ‘If you don’t show me the safe I’ll shoot you dead’.”
She began walking to the safe as the other two began smashing the cabinets.
“Then Stevan ran out on the floor and yelled, ‘Get out of my shop’, which they did.”
The trio, carrying jewellery said to be worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars”, fled to a nearby getaway car, with its unmasked driver illegally parking in a loading zone on Toorak Rd.
The silver Hyundai, recently stolen in Glenroy, made a dangerous U-turn then went down a side street.
Tony Fialides, owner of the 42-year-old family jewellery business, was not in the shop at the time. He said the raiders would struggle to sell the clearly named items.
“Any second-hand dealer would recognise our name on all the jewellery,” Mr Fialides said. “They can’t sell it to anyone legitimately.”
Detective Inspective Michael Daly said: “It’s a brazen attack. I admire the actions of the store manager, who shielded a customer and a worker.”
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.