‘Don’t come to my local and do that’: Hero pokie player uses a bar stool and a POT PLANT to scare off a machete-wielding robber who stormed into a pub demanding money
- A hero pokie player stopped a robbery by using a bar stool and a pot plant
- Andrew Ormsby stepped in when a thief demanded $1,500 cash from a worker
- The 29-year-old picked up a bar stool and threw it before throwing a pot plant
- The offender dropped the money, but is still on the run after he escaped
A hero pokie player scared away a machete-wielding robber by using a bar stool and a pot plant after he stormed into a pub demanding money.
Andrew Ormsby, 29, was inside the Mermaid Beach Tavern on the Gold Coast shortly after midnight on Friday when the balaclava wearing thief entered the gaming area.
Footage released by Queensland Police shows the masked man enter the tavern and demand money from a 37-year-old female staffer.
Andrew Ormsby was inside the Mermaid Beach Tavern on the Gold Coast shortly after midnight on Friday when the balaclava wearing thief entered the gaming area (pictured posing next to a pot plant similar to the one he used)
He demanded about $1,500 from the worker, but Mr Ormsby was having none of it.
The 29-year-old can be seen at the back of the gaming room taking off his denim jacket and putting it on the ground, before sneaking up behind the thief.
After hearing screams, he had first thought someone won the major prize, but quickly realised it wasn’t the case.
Mr Ormsby noticed the robber wave the machete at the worker’s face and decided to jump to action.
‘The closest thing I saw was the bar stool so I was like, ‘pretty heavy, why not?’ I took a swing, got his head, he was waving it around – he could have hit anyone,’ he told Nine News.
The robber then attempts to fight back before Mr Ormsby is seen grabbing a pot plant and throwing it in the thief’s direction.
Holding the machete in his right hand, the robber then stretches his other arm out to the worker, motioning for her to give him the money.
While this is happening, Mr Ormsby has the chance to pick up the bar stool once again before chasing the machete-wielding man out of the venue.
The offender (left) demanded about $1500 from a female worker (bottom right) but Mr Ormsby (top centre) was having none of it
The 29-year-old chased the robber out of the tavern, tackling him to the ground and getting the money back off him.
‘The female staff member and the male patron gave chase and wrestled with the man obtaining the money back before the offender fled the scene empty handed,’ Queensland Police said in a statement.
‘I kind of gave him a few hits, but then he just threw the bag,’ Mr Ormsby said.
‘Don’t come to my local and do that.’
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Dane Sheraton praised Mr Ormsby’s ‘brave’ and ‘courageous’ actions.
Andrew Ormsby scared away a machete-wielding robber by using a bar stool and a pot plant after he stormed into a pub demanding money
‘It’s not something we encourage, but I think it was very much a spur of the moment (thing), a reflex action by him. It’s very courageous and I think he should be commended for his actions,’ he told reporters on Friday.
Det Sheraton said Mr Ormsby should be commended even though such actions were not encouraged by police.
‘I think it was very much a spur of the moment (thing), a reflex action by him, it’s very courageous,’ he said.
Neither Mr Ormsby or the 37-year-old female worker were hurt in the incident.
Police are still searching for the man, who is described to be between 45 and 50 years of age, caucasian and balding with a large build and nnose.
Mr Ormsby (centre) then chased the offender (left) out of the pub, crash tackling him outside and forcing the bandit to drop the cash he’d just stolen