Amaroo chemist robber allegedly caught thanks to bystanders

Eli Francis Young, a 39-year-old from Amaroo, was charged with robbery on Monday. Photo: Michelle Kroll.

A man accused of robbing a chemist in north Canberra was allegedly tracked down by police with the help of bystanders.

ACT Policing said at about 3:30 pm on Sunday (28 July), officers were approached by two people who had just witnessed the robbery at Priceline Pharmacy in Amaroo.

“The information they provided assisted police in locating and arresting the alleged offender a short time later,” a police spokesperson said.

Eli Francis Young, a 39-year-old from Amaroo, was formally handed a charge of robbery when he faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday (29 July).

He applied for bail but legally had to demonstrate special or exceptional circumstances existed to favour the granting of bail.

His lawyer, Legal Aid’s Eliza Wilson, said his stepmother was undergoing chemotherapy in Sydney and his father wouldn’t be able to handle the additional stress of his son being in custody.

She said he claimed he wasn’t given the correct medication the last time he was in the Alexander Maconochie Centre as he was told it wasn’t available at the facility. Also, he suffered from chronic pain due to a workplace injury.

Prosecutor Jack Hill said while the prosecution sympathised with Young’s circumstances, they were neither special nor exceptional.

There was no evidence to say the AMC couldn’t provide the medication for him, he said.

Magistrate Jane Campbell agreed and refused bail. The matter was adjourned to 19 August. No plea was mentioned.