UPDATE: A woman in her 20s was subdued by shoppers and staff at Caremore Pharmacy in Tuross after threatening to set the store ablaze. This alarming incident unfolded on the morning of July 21, 2023, when the woman entered the pharmacy brandishing clothing soaked in petrol.
According to pharmacist Peter Gready, the woman demanded Ritalin and threatened to ignite the pharmacy if her demands were not met. “She wasn’t joking. I confronted her out the front, and she had a jumper soaked in petrol while flicking a cigarette lighter,” Gready recounted.
In a dramatic turn of events, Gready managed to wrest the flammable clothing from her grasp and threw it into nearby bushes. However, the situation escalated as the woman returned to the store, igniting products including beanies and gloves. “Then she was walking around flicking a cigarette lighter, demanding medication,” he added.
Before the chaos could spiral further, local personal trainer Peter Brown intervened. “He’s a big guy,” Gready said. Brown, a former Army private, assisted in restraining the woman alongside Gready and another customer. “I just sort of restrained her and told her I’m doing a citizen’s arrest,” Brown stated. Despite his efforts, the woman resisted fiercely, reportedly biting Brown and drawing blood.
Throughout the struggle, witnesses noted the woman’s audible distress. After approximately half an hour of restraint, local police and the fire department arrived on the scene. “Because I was looking down, I just saw military black boots and then blue pants, and I knew that was the cops,” Brown said.
Authorities confirmed that while the woman did not gain entry to the pharmacy, she did break a window. Gready revealed that she initially claimed to have witnessed someone else breaking the window but later confessed her involvement.
No charges have been filed against the woman yet, as investigations are ongoing. This incident follows two ram-raids at Caremore Pharmacy and nearby Moruya Pharmacy over the weekend. The Moruya Pharmacy experienced a break-in when an individual crashed a vehicle into the front, an act captured on closed-circuit television. Pharmacist Ali Hulse described the ram-raid, stating, “She had ram-raided the shop twice. She hit the corner, backed up, and hit it front-on.”
As the community grapples with these troubling events, local authorities are on high alert. Residents are urged to remain vigilant as investigations continue into the recent criminal activities in the area. Stay tuned for further updates as this story develops.
