It’s 3am and Wollongong radiator repairer Simon Eckersley is starting work early when loud noises break the dead-of-night silence.
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Three men are allegedly breaking into the North Wollongong Optus store opposite Mr Eckersley’s Flinders Street workshop, Eckersley Radiators, on Tuesday morning and he springs into action – enter the ‘‘Radiator Hero’’.
The 41-year-old had been at work for about half an hour when he heard something out of the ordinary.
‘‘I heard... five or six really loud bangs and I thought someone was trying to break in up the front,’’ Mr Eckersley, whose firm is tucked behind others, said.
After witnessing an apparent break-in occurring before his eyes, Mr Eckersley alerted police and continued ‘‘keeping an eye on’’ what was unfolding. Two police cars quickly arrived on scene.
‘‘That was the magic thing, [the police response] was really good... it was a matter of between two to five minutes and it was all goin’ down,’’ he said.
Optus North Wollongong manager Tony Story used the business’ Facebook page this week to praise Mr Eckersley’s quick actions, dubbing him the ‘‘local radiator guy turned local hero’’.
‘‘Instead of being a selfish muppet and figuring it was someone else’s problem, he came out of his shop, climbed the driveway and poked his head over the fence... where he saw our store apparently being broken into,’’ he posted.
‘‘He calls the cops, the cops come fast... and none of our stuff gets stolen.’’
Said Mr Eckersley: ‘‘I’d do for someone [what] I hope they would do for me.’’
Three Sydney men, accused of carrying out a smash-and-grab robbery, were refused bail in Port Kembla Local Court on Tuesday.
Police allege Craig David Batten, 37, Steven Varty, 38, and Craig McAllister, 34, drove down the coast in a stolen Holden Crewman ute fitted out with fake number plates before using a crowbar to break into the Optus store.
Once inside, police claim the trio went to separate areas of the store and began loading display items into grey garbage bags and putting them in the rear of the ute.
Police recovered 76 electronic devices from the ute’s tray and back seat. The store later confirmed the value of the missing goods to be around $15,000.
Batten and McAllister, from Dulwich Hill and Ramsgate Beach respectively, did not apply for bail; Varty, from Jannali, did but it was denied. The trio will return to court on August 26.
