Mum, child in horror kidnapping at Melbourne shopping centre
Police say a man forced the mother and infant into their car at knifepoint and forced to drive around buying him electronics.
A mother and her infant child were kidnapped at knifepoint for two hours from a suburban shopping centre car park in Melbourne last week.
Victoria Police revealed on Friday an investigation was underway to find the man responsible for the incident that unfolded from about 6pm on May 10.
Officers have been told the woman and infant were at the Stud Park Shopping Centre, Rowville, in Melbourne’s southeast, when a man approached and brandished a knife.
He then forced them into their Suzuki S Cross, with the woman in the driver’s seat and man armed with a knife as he sat next to the child in the back.
Police say the man forced the woman to drive to electrical stores on South Gippsland Hwy, Cranbourne and Frankston Dandenong Rd, Dandenong “where he demanded (the woman) to purchase Apple MacBooks at several stores”.
“While she did, he remained seated in the car with her child,” Victoria Police said.
The man then drove from the Dandenong store to Robert Booth Reserve where he fled on foot, carrying four MacBooks, leaving the victims in the back of the car about 8pm.
The woman and her child were not physically injured during the incident, police said.
CCTV footage of a man police would like to speak to has been released as Knox Crime Investigation Unit detectives continue their investigation.
The footage shows a man wearing a black face mask, grey hoodie and green fluoro vest on walking away from a car carrying computers under his arm and in a bag.
He is described as being of Asian ethnicity and aged between 20 and 35.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information should contact Crime Stoppers.
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