NSW crime: Possible ‘kill car’ intercepted at Greystanes, men aged 19, 20 and 22 charged
Three young men have been charged and one remains on the run after NSW Police intercepted a potential ‘kill car’ carrying balaclava-clad men. Officers found a gun and jerry can inside.
Police have stopped a potential “kill car” that had been carrying four men wearing balaclavas in Western Sydney.
Three men were arrested at Greystanes on Monday evening after fleeing from a black Mercedes SUV, which had crashed during a short pursuit that began on Regina St when police tried to speak to the occupants, following reports of suspicious behaviour.
Police allege the SUV was stolen from Balwyn in Victoria and as they approached, the driver allegedly accelerated away, reaching speeds of up to 80km/h in 50km/hzones.
The pursuit was terminated on Paton St in Merrylands West when the SUV hit a parked car.
Two men were arrested after a foot chase, while a third was tracked down with the help of PolAir and the Dog Unit.
A loaded shotgun was allegedly found under the driver’s seat, while two jerry cans were located in the rear of the SUV.
A senior police source said it was not yet clear what the four men were planning to do.
“But you would imagine it was going to be a kidnapping, drive-by, or worse,” the senior officer told The Daily Telegraph.
Remnants of the stolen Mercedes SUV littered the street after it slammed into a parked Mazda hatchback on Monday evening.
A neighbour said he “heard sirens everywhere and saw police racing up and down the street.”
It’s understood three men bailed from the crashed Mercedes and ran into the neighbouring Central Gardens with police in hot pursuit.
NSW Police also said officers from the elite Raptor Squad were assisting with the investigation.
The arrested men – aged 19, 20 and 22 – have now been charged.
A 19-year-old Woodcroft man faces six offences including possessing an unauthorised pistol, face blackened/disguised with intent to commit an indictable offence and being carried in a conveyance taken without the owner’s consent.
A 20-year-old Penrith man was hit with eight charges including police pursuit – not stop – drive dangerously; driving a conveyance taken without consent; possessing an unauthorised pistol and unlawfully possessing an object resembling a number plate.
A 22-year-old Woodcroft man has been charged with three offences including possessing an unauthorised pistol and being carried in a stolen conveyance.
All three men have been refused bail to appear in Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday.
Police have been out in force in the city’s west over the past two nights after a Casula home was shot up in the early hours of Saturday.
Sydney’s underworld has been on edge since that incident, in which a gunman using a semi-automatic weapon fired up to 40 shots into the two-storey home, in an attack police sources believed was targeted at an Alameddine associate.
A rival gang subsequently taunted the man, who has a manslaughter conviction, urging him in a handwritten note to leave the safety of the city high-rise in which he is believed to be holed up.
The note, written on a piece of cardboard and circulated throughout the underworld, dared the target to “come out the boneyard (Barangaroo) and PLAY WITH US”.
It also listed a time and place, attempting to lure the man to Waterloo Green, a grassed area among high-rise housing commission towers, but it is understood no meeting eventuated.
The circulation of that note followed an alleged drug dealer being filmed by an enforcer pistol-whipping him.
Video of that incident, which occurred at Quakers Hill on November 10, also featured a cardboard note from a new “Aussie cartel” sending a chilling message that it was taking over the city’s cocaine supply.
“Message from the cartel management. Aus cocaine market comply, or face your fate,” the note read.
Underworld sources said there was growing conflict all over the city with the “cartel” kidnapping and bashing people to assert its authority, while the Alameddines were also embroiled in an ongoing feud with former associates the KVT.
“Throw in the fact that the Vietnamese seem to be getting involved in shootings and drug rips more than we have seen and it’s ugly out there in the southwest,‘’ an underworld source said.
Inquiries are continuing into the whereabouts of the fourth man, with Raptor Squad officers assisting.
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Originally published as NSW crime: Possible ‘kill car’ intercepted at Greystanes, men aged 19, 20 and 22 charged
