An alleged gunman with “shaggy hair” has been arrested following reports of a confrontation about an allegedly stolen car which was set on fire prompting him to flee the scene.
The 32-year-old man was arrested late Sunday in Sydney’s inner west, after being on the run since Friday morning, following an appeal by the police.
He was arrested in Burwood but initially evaded being caught, sustaining a minor injury.
Officers were called to a basement car park of a residential building in Dulwich Hill after they were told the man had allegedly torched a vehicle after stealing it and threatening owners who confronted him.
Fire and Rescue NSW attended the scene and extinguished the fire with no injuries recorded.
The man then allegedly fled on foot through a nearby park with police releasing an image of the suspect on social media and the suburb going into lockdown for several hours with helicopters roving above.
Mark Swan, a resident in the building, heard loud arguments when two men and a woman confronted the alleged offender before hearing a bang.
“We heard a bang, which I took to be a shotgun, and a fellow yelling, “I need a fire extinguisher’,” he said on Friday.
“So I opened my kitchen window and yelled ‘there’s a hose reel behind the wall there’ but the garage had already filled up with smoke.”
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Described by police as being of Caucasian appearance and about 160cm tall “with a thin build and shaggy hair”, the man sporting a black hooded jumper and black pants was charged with seven offences including possessing a shortened firearm without authority.
He is due to appear in court on Monday.