Three men appeared in Wollongong Local Court yesterday after they were arrested and charged on Friday by officers from Strike Force Riordan, formed in March to investigate a spate of armed robberies, aggravated break and enter offences and thefts from commercial premises in the Illawarra between March 28 and June 12.

Port Kembla man Rhian Kinloch, 23, yesterday applied for bail. However, his application was denied. Two other men, Kevin Santos, 25, and Brandon Gee, 20, did not apply for bail.

Two men facing three charges each, Guy Shareef and Matthew Nobrega, received conditional bail on Saturday morning at Wollongong Local Court.

The five men, aged between 19 and 25, live at Berkeley, Flinders and Port Kembla. A 21-year-old woman was also arrested and charged with three offences but was released on police bail.

Together, the six accused were charged with a total of 63 offences.

In one incident, police will allege they intercepted a phone call made on Kinloch's phone just before 9pm on May 19 and heard a person in the background say: "We'll definitely need four and a driver, nothing legit."

Another call made the same night between two other men made mention of the Bulli Beach Cafe, police said.

About four hours later, at 1.55am on May 20, police in an unmarked car were lying in wait when a vehicle they allege was driven by Santos, arrived at the cafe before accelerating and colliding with the officers' car. It then accelerated south along the cycleway towards Woonona and a short pursuit followed before being called off, it was alleged.

Some time between 5pm that night and 6.20am on May 21, police claim five men, including Kinloch, went to the Bulli Beach Cafe, forced entry and accessed a safe.

Defence solicitor Tim McKenzie, acting for Kinloch, said his client was prepared to abide by stringent bail conditions.

However, Magistrate Doug Dick refused Kinloch bail.

He ordered a brief of evidence be served by July 31, with each of the men to reappear by audio-visual link on August 14.