‘I seen all the cop cars… next minute he’s hit the trailer’: Dusty the truck driver emerges as unlikely hero who helped police catch ‘violent carjacker after 200km chase’
- Driver stole a car from Hervey Bay, QLD, Wednesday morning before ditching it
- He later carjacked a Ford Falcon and allegedly stabbed a pregnant woman, 37
- Police shot him after he got out of his car and he was then hit by a caravan
- A tradesman has now revealed how he stopped the car by moving his truck
A truck driver named Dusty has revealed how he helped stop an armed robber during a 200km police chase.
A man robbed the Hervey Bay Hotel on Wednesday morning and made his escape with a series of violent carjackings in which he stabbed a pregnant woman in the hand.
Police were chasing the driver near Gympie on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast when Dustin Horne saw the commotion in the rear-view mirror of his truck.
With his friend’s young son in the passenger seat next to him, Dusty made the brave decision to move his truck in attempt to stop the crazed driver.
Police were chasing a driver near Gympie on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast when Dustin Horne (pictured) saw the commotion in the rear-view mirror of his truck
This is the scene at the end of the 200km high-speed chase on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast
In an interview with Sunrise presenter David Koch on Thursday morning, the brave tradesman said: ‘I went into his path a little bit, Kochie.
‘I saw in the rear-view mirror, I was watching the traffic behind me.
‘I was listening on the radio on the way out to Nikki’s to get a load of blocks and… I thought I would move over a bit and the next minute he has hit the trailer straight out the back.
‘The cops were right behind him he decided to go around us, so I moved forward to let the police go.’
The police then caught up with the driver and shot him as he ran from his car on the Bruce Highway before he was hit by a caravan.
Police arrested the man and took him to hospital under police guard for treatment.
Asked if he knew how dangerous the man might be, Dusty replied: ‘I didn’t. After seeing its last night, in a way, because I had my mate’s little fella beside me, in a way I am glad he did not stop. I didn’t know he was armed or anything like that.
Koch then asked Dusty how he was feeling and the tradesman replied: ‘I’m more concerned about the State of Origin loss actually.’
The robber is reported to have stolen a car in Hervey Bay at about 6.30am on Wednesday after robbing the Hervey Bay Hotel.
He then reportedly carjacked a 37-year-old pregnant woman’s car in Maryborough after stabbing her.
She was taken to Hervey Bay Hospital and is in a stable condition with injuries to one of her hands.
He ditched the woman’s car near Tiaro and stole a white Ford Falcon sedan, before being shot after leaving his car and trying to jump over a guard rail, 9 News reported.
Witnesses told the Sunshine Coast Daily that they saw the driver weaving between lanes as he was chased by as many as 10 police cars.
Julie-Ann Kurikawa was sitting in traffic when police opened fire on the man and said it was like something out of a movie.
‘I was here first, traffic was stopped because the guy fell down, he was lying on the ground bleeding from being run him over and being shot at,’ she said.
‘It was very traumatic. I just closed my eyes. He was screaming at me, I was panicking.’
