It seems like the only genre playing at Roseville Cinema last month was action.
Two of four thieves were arrested at a fast food restaurant a day after threatening movie-goers and staff in an armed robbery at Roseville Cinema last month.
Twenty-year-old Amanda Ridden and her boyfriend Daniel Roche, 22, were arrested at Kirrawee Mcdonald’s, in Sydney’s south, after staff noticed they were acting suspiciously.
The couple allegedly attacked seven police officers while being arrested. Mr Roche allegedly bit an officer on the hand before fleeing the fast food outlet. However he was arrested a short time later.
Police will also allege the woman scratched and punched the custody sergeant at Sutherland Police Station.
A shortened shotgun was found by police while searching the pair’s bags, leading officers to alert detectives in the Metropolitan Armed Robbery Unit (MRU) investigating the armed robbies at Roseville Cinema, where a similar shotgun was used to threaten customers.
Multiple charges were laid against both, for the robberies of Roseville Cinema and Revesby Pacific Hotel, as well as an earlier carjacking in Lane Cove.
The blue 2003 Nissan carjacking vehicle stolen from an 87-year-old Lane Cove resident was used as an escape vehicle for the two robberies.
The couple is facing multiple charges including two counts of robbery while armed with a dangerous weapon, damaging property with fire, and illegally taking and driving a motor vehicle.
Mr Roche, who has been described as a “repeat offender” in court documents, faces further charges of intimidating and assaulting a police officer and having a knife in a public area for an unrelated incident in Dee Why on September 19.
Both were refused bail and appeared in Sutherland Local Court the day after their arrest.
The court heard how the four thieves, armed with shotguns and machetes, demanded more than $4000 from cinema patrons and staff in the September 23 robbery.
According to the police, no personal belongings were taken, but the four offenders escaped with approximately$1000 from the box office.
The same offenders were involved in an armed robbery at Revesby Pacific Hotel two hours later, where they threatened the hotel manager and stole cash and cigarettes before fleeing.No one was injured in either of these two incidents.
While the four robbers evaded capture, the stolen Nissan car was located burnt out in a Westmead reserve just after midnight. Roseville Cinema and North Shore Police declined to comment on the issue.
By Amelia Zhou
