POLICE are hunting two young men after a brazen armed robbery in a busy Warrnambool shopping centre car park.
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The pair is wanted after threatening an elderly woman with a knife at Gateway Plaza about 1.30pm on Saturday.
Detective Senior Constable Nick De Ritter said the woman was returning to her car, in the front section of the car park beside Gateway Road, when she was approached by the males.
They produced a knife and demanded her handbag.
He said the offenders took her bag and the keys to the car, which they then attempted to steal.
“A good Samaritan has then come up and intervened and both offenders have run off towards the Wanstead Street area,” Detective Senior Constable De Ritter said.
He said the men crossed Gateway Road, into the Woolworths car park before running past the supermarket and down a Raglan Parade service lane towards Wanstead Street. A man who saw the incident is believed to have chased the men across the road before losing sight of the pair.
Crime scene detectives cordoned off an area of the car park, near the main entrance, and dusted a late model Audi sedan for fingerprints on Saturday afternoon.
The victim, aged in her late 70s, is believed to have been very shaken after the incident, but reported by family as OK.
Detective Senior Constable De Ritter said police were hoping to secure CCTV footage from cameras in the area in an effort to identify the offenders.
He said some witnesses had come forward after the robbery was reported on The Standard website on Saturday afternoon.
“We already have information coming through Crime Stoppers,” he said.
He urged anyone who witnessed the robbery or saw the males running through the Woolworths car park or around the Wanstead Street area to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Warrnambool police.