Elderly couple help police detain shoplifter

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An elderly couple are being praised by police after helping officers in their search for a man who stole goods from a major shopping centre in Penrith.

After police ran a shoplifting operation last Thursday, August 6, officers were contacted by store security from a shopping centre on Station Street in Penrith.

At about 12.20pm store security saw a man allegedly stealing a number of items from the shop and walking out.

On his way out, security confronted the man and attempted to detain him but they were pushed out of the way and the man then allegedly pulled out a pocket knife.

Security followed the man while calling police on the phone for assistance in detaining him.

The man walked to the exit of the shopping centre, unlocked the chain around his push bike and rode away.

An elderly couple followed the man with officers in the couple’s vehicle, leading police to arrest the man.

“Could the elderly couple make themselves known to police as we would like to personally thank you,” Detective Inspector Grant Healey said.

The 45-year-old man from Mt Druitt was charged with ‘shoplifting’, ‘use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention’ and ‘rider not wear helmet’.

He is due to appear in Penrith Local Court on September 3.

Police regularly patrol shopping centres in an effort to catch shoplifters.

– Jade Aliprandi


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