Police catch heavy-handed thief

Police arrested Ronald Coleman, 22, after he robbed the Gladstone Hotel in Smith Street yesterday.

An armoured car driver stopped at the pub to pick up four bags of money. As he was leaving the pub, Mr Coleman attacked him from behind and hit him on the head.

Mr Coleman then staggered off with the four bags of money which contained only $80 each. They were all filled with small coins and each weighed 15 kilograms.

Before Mr Coleman could carry the heavy bags to his getaway car, the police arrived. After seeing the thief with the bags of money, they arrested him immediately.

The driver of the armoured car, Barry White, 56, said: "I usually have a partner working with me, but he was sick today. The thief came behind me and knocked me right out. I didn't know what happened!"

A witness to the incident, Ms Andrea Mitchell of Waterloo, said: "My friend and I were having lunch next door. After leaving the café we saw this little man carrying four bags. He was walking very slowly but you could tell he was in a hurry. "

Ms Mitchell continued: "My friend and I laughed because he looked so funny! Then the police came and arrested him."

Police officer John O'Rourke said that the arrest was the easiest he had ever made. "I've never seen such a slow thief!" he said.

After the incident, the owner of the Gladstone Hotel, Paul Rubens, said it was bad luck the thief chose to rob the pub yesterday. He explained, "Once a month we collect all our small coins before sending them to the bank to be counted. I guess they were just too heavy for him to carry!"

The four bags of coins that were
too much for Ronald Coleman.