Sweet-toothed bandit gets scooped up by the law

By Helen Velissaris

A Noble Park man with a penchant for Crunchie chocolates has attempted to rob a service station and a bottlo – with a spoon.
The 46-year-old was laughed at when he entered the Caltex service station on Heatherton Road, Noble Park, on 25 September, about 2pm.
Brandishing the handle of the spoon to make it look like a weapon, he demanded cash from the attendant.
Not having much luck, the man grabbed three Crunchie bars from the front display and made a run for it.
But his Crunchie haul wasn’t enough, so he popped into the local BottleMart brandishing his spoon again.
This time the attendant hit the duress button which scared him off before police caught up with him at his home in Noble Park.
He was remanded and charged with armed robbery and theft.
He was due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 28 September for a filing hearing.
As for the chocolate bars, police weren’t able to return them to the petrol station.
“They had all been eaten by then,” Detective Senior Constable Dean Hedge said.