POLICE are requesting a caller, who provided crucial information about two Camperdown supermarket armed robberies, contact officers again.
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Detective Sergeant Lee Porter, of the Warrnambool police crime investigation unit (CIU), said that on Wednesday, January 8, detectives manned an information caravan at Camperdown to gather information about the armed robberies at the IGA and Foodworks supermarkets.
“Investigators are now certain that these incidents are both linked and we are keen for the male caller that contacted Crime Stoppers in January to call again,” Detective Sergeant Porter said.
“We are pleading for the male caller to again contact the Warrnambool CIU or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 as intelligence received has led to some significant advances in the case.”
Police previously labelled the armed robberies committed on lone women attendants as “cowardly”.
In the first robbery on December 9, 2012, a man entered the IGA supermarket’s liquor section through a rear car park about 4.15pm. He was armed with a weapon described as a machete and wearing dark clothing and a black balaclava. The man demanded cash, and threatened the attendant with the weapon.
“A witness has since come forward and stated that a car was heard to leave the laneway after the offender ran through, leading investigators to believe that the masked male was not operating alone,” Detective Sergeant Porter said.
In the second incident on Saturday, June 1, 2013, a man wearing a white balaclava, a dark blue jumper, blue track pants and red shoes entered the Foodworks Supermarket in Brooke Street about 4.36pm through the front door.
He walked to the centre console where a female attendant was working at a cash register, produced a large kitchen knife with a blade about 20 centimetres long, waved the knife around and demanded cash.
athomson@fairfaxmedia.com.au