Trio leap into action to stop jewel thief

THREE men have been praised by shoppers after they chased down a would- be jewellery thief.

A man reportedly smashed a glass cabinet open at Jewellery By Design in CastleTown Shoppingworld about 2pm yesterday.

Witnesses said the man got less than 10m from the store before three men tackled him and pinned him down until police arrived.

Fiona Blaszczyk was at a stall promoting a dance studio open day when she heard a “giant crash” of breaking glass.

She and a friend saw other shoppers run out of the jewellery store screaming, holding their handbags, and then the man believed to be responsible for the attempted smash and grab came running out them.

“We couldn’t see if he grabbed anything or not,” Ms Blaszczyk said. “We just saw the glass on the ground and him running out.”

She said the men – two of whom appeared to be tradesmen or delivery drivers and another who was a random shopper – chased the man down and kept him subdued until police arrived about six minutes later. after

“It was Blaszczyk said.

“We were pretty impressed with the three guys.”

Mundingburra police had a man in custody yesterday afternoon in relation to the incident.

Ms Blaszczyk said the three good Samaritans spoke with police then went on with their day.

She said the jewellery store had remained closed since the incident, with police inside in- hectic,” Ms vestigating the attempted robbery.

A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said the incident had been reported as a “smash and grab of a ring”.

She said the man had been detained and taken into custody, but charges were still pending.

The Bulletin attempted to contact staff at the jewellery store after the incident but they were busy with police and unable to comment.