REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD Coast police were put on alert for “Mad Max” Clarke, who was being hunted by police following the shooting of four policemen in Melbourne.

A police spokesman said a man fitting a similar description to Max Clarke, aka Pavel Marinof, was seen in the Labrador area the previous day.

It was believed the man fitting Clarke’s description and driving a Victorian registered car went to a wrecking yard for repairs.

Police were called in to scour the area and were put on the lookout for the silver sedan, thought to be of Japanese make, heading from Labrador towards Southport.

Police were warned to approach the man with caution because it was believed he was armed and dangerous.

The man was described as being in his mid-to-late 40s, 175cm to 178cm tall, of ethnic origin and with light brown, slightly thinning hair.

Victorian police said this description was very similar to Clarke’s.

On June 18, Clarke was said to have shot four Victorian policemen in the southeastern Melbourne suburb of Noble Park.

One of the four was left a paraplegic after getting shot at the base of the spine.

The others received wounds to various parts of their bodies.

Clarke was finally found hiding out in Wallan north of Melbourne on February 25, 1986, where he engaged in another shootout with police.

The officers responded and shot Clarke dead at the scene.

The four officers the man shot in the 1985 incident all returned to duty after they recovered from their injuries.