BURGLARS will probably think twice before targeting Tom Powell’s business again after he tussled with the offender and smashed his car as he fled.
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Mr Powell lives at Tom and Erin’s Nursery in Beechworth with his wife and their children.
As an intruder targeted a fruit shop at the Hurdle Flat Road property early Sunday morning, he leapt into action.
Mr Powell jumped out of his bed as a fire alarm went off and sprinted to the building.
He noticed a man walking from the shop and yelled out before the man ran.
“I shot after him, launched at him and a little scuffle erupted,” Mr Powell said.
“I knocked his glasses off his head.
“Somehow he deflected me and got into the car and I tried to stop him going anywhere by punching at the windows and car.
“I punched the back window out, put my fist through it, and he drove off with all my money.”
Despite cutting his arm, Mr Powell told paramedics not to come.
“Nah, I’ll be right boys,” he told a Triple-0 caller after the incident.
While police suggested he should have taken a more measured approach by trying to view the car’s number plate, Mr Powell said he was sick of his business being targeted.
The man was seen scoping out the property on Saturday afternoon.
He said he would “prefer not to comment” about how he would approach anyone else that targeted him.
“What am I going to say to him?” Mr Powell said.
I punched the back window out, put my fist through it, and he drove off with all my money
- Tom Powell
“You’ve got all my money in that tin, can I please have it back?
“If I had have been smart, I know the result would have been a lot different but unfortunately, I’d be the one in trouble.
“I’m sick of it all.”
Police have released an image of the man in the hopes of tracking him down.
He is aged about 55 to 65 and was using a white Nissan Qashqai that is thought to be a rental car or stolen.
Investigators believe he is not local.
The man was pictured looking around the business about 5.15pm on Saturday before taking cash.
He looked straight into a security camera.
Anyone with information can call Beechworth police on (03) 5728 1032 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.