Man charged in Sydney after alleged carjacking involving two children
In Sydney, Australia, a 36-year-old man has been charged following a police pursuit and the alleged carjacking of a vehicle carrying two children. According to ABC News Australia, the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon in the city’s southwest.
At about 3:00 p.m., police arrived in the Lakemba area to check on the welfare of a 36-year-old man. According to law enforcement, he drove away in a vehicle with two children inside. Police began a brief pursuit through the Campsie area but stopped it because of the man’s driving manner.
The vehicle was involved in a crash at the intersection of Parramatta Road and Bombay Street in Lidcombe, about nine kilometres from Lakemba. After the crash, the man got out of the car with the children, while witnesses attempted to intervene.
Witnesses reported a knife
Witness Nicholas Karagiannis said he heard bystanders shouting that a man was fleeing with children and then ran after him. According to him, the man tried to get into other vehicles and had a knife. Karagiannis also said he grabbed one of the boys, but the child wanted to return to the man.
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Video footage shows several people attempting to restrain the man in the middle of a busy road. In the recording, he allegedly puts two boys into a black Kia Cerato, after which the female driver is forcibly pulled from the vehicle. Police said the man allegedly threatened the woman with a small black knife.
Arrest and charges
Inspector Mark Wakeham said one bystander unsuccessfully tried to remove the keys from the Cerato’s ignition and suffered a cut to his hand when the vehicle drove off with the two children inside. The car stopped on the M4 motorway near the Greystanes Road overpass. There, witnesses, including an off-duty police officer, restrained the man until a patrol arrived.
The children, aged between five and seven, sustained minor injuries and were expected to be discharged from hospital on Sunday. Police said they were not treating the incident as a kidnapping. The man was under police guard in hospital, where he was charged with, among other offences, aggravated robbery causing wounding, police pursuit and reckless wounding. He appeared in court via video link later that day, did not apply for bail, and the hearing was adjourned until September 24.
