A man caught during a dramatic citizens' arrest in Canberra on Sunday will be charged over a string of aggravated robberies when he appears in court, police say.
Patrons of a coffee shop in Gowrie - including an ex-cross country runner - chased and pinned down a man they believed had used an axe to hold up the local supermarket only metres away on Sunday.
Police said on Monday that the same man - a 30-year-old from Wanniassa - would be charged with robbing a business in Manuka earlier that morning. He will also be charged with robbing a different supermarket - the Kambah IGA - the weekend before.
Police said a man armed with a small hatchet had robbed Manuka Newsagency on Flinders Way, Griffith, about 6.20am Sunday.
They said he later went to the Gowrie IGA about 9.40am and "again produced a small hatchet and demanded money, before fleeing the scene on foot with a sum of cash".
"Following this incident, the man was pursued and detained by members of the public before police attended a short time later and took the man into custody," police said in a statement.
Some of those involved in that capture outlined what happened to The Canberra Times.
A relaxed Sunday morning at the Gowrie shops suddenly turned into high drama when patrons saw a man with what appeared to be a tomahawk walk past them towards the supermarket.
Peter Badowski was having breakfast at the Common Grounds cafe when he saw a man head towards the supermarket.
"And I saw what looked to be a tomahawk in his hand. I got up and followed him up and spoke to somebody else and said, 'Did you see what I saw?' and he said, 'Yep'," Mr Badowski said.
"We started walking up towards the supermarket and this guy came charging out and we just took off and chased him up the street."
Mr Badowski, ex-cross country runner Nathan Dunn and Nick Hourigan, another patron, chased the man up Castleton Crescent.
"Then he fell over in the street and the other guy who was with me went for his feet and I went for his head and we managed to tackle him to the ground and a couple of other people came along and we held him down," Mr Badwoski said.
Several men had to wrestle the axe from the man, who was swinging it towards them.
"He had his hand on the gutter and I was belting his hand and eventually he loosened his grip on the tomahawk and we managed to get it off him and then the police arrived," Mr Badowski said.
An off-duty policewoman stopped in her car to supervise and police arrived about five minutes later.
Nathan Dunn, who grew up in Gowrie, was the first to get to the man.
"I think it was a great community response and shows the spirit of Gowrie," he said.
Alicia Hourigan said it was a confronting experience for her family as they were having breakfast together.
"It was very scary, very scary. Definitely," she said.
"Shocking. It was weird. We thought maybe it was a Halloween costume ... It didn't seem real. And odd that it happened with so many people around."
The alleged robbery occurred at the Gowrie Friendly Grocer about 9.45am.
Owner Brian Shea said his supermarket had been held up twice in 12 years.
"I'm just glad it was me and not one of the kids," he said, referring to his young shop assistants.
Mr Shea appreciated the efforts of the public but was not sure confronting someone potentially dangerous was worth "a couple of hundred dollars".
An ACT Policing spokesperson said a 30-year-old man was taken into custody about 9.54am. A bag containing stolen goods was located a short time later.
"ACT Policing would like to thank the members of the community who reported the incident while it was in progress, and those who intervened. The arrested man is expected to remain in police custody overnight to face court Monday morning on several charges."
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website and quote reference 7275960.
