An intellectually disabled woman and her boyfriend stand accused of a Halloween-themed armed hold-up at a Wollongong discount store.
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Police allege Hope Malfitano and Michael Levitt pulled scary masks over their faces before robbing a cashier at knifepoint, Sunday afternoon.
The city’s network of CCTV cameras allegedly captured the couple fleeing to a nearby pub, stopping to occasionally collect fallen cash notes along the way.
Police allege they were feeding the stolen takings into poker machines when they were arrested at gunpoint a short time later.
The pair allegedly confronted a cashier at the Lucky Shop Sydney general store on Crown Street about 1.50pm.
The staffer was momentarily bemused as the masked Malfitano, 29, allegedly produced a steak knife and demanded they open the till.
“Is this a prank?” the cashier asked, according to a police version of events considered by Wollongong Local Court on Monday.
“I will f-cking kill you,” Malfitano, 29, allegedly replied. “Open the till.”
Police say Malfitano lunged at the staffer with the 24cm knife as Levitt, 33, moved in on the now-opened cash register, removing $405.
Police allege the pair then ran westward on Crown Street, with Levitt occasionally stopping to pick up dropped notes. They went into Spotlight store before walking eastward along Burelli Street to the Grand Hotel, located within the same city block as the discount store.
They allegedly had their Halloween masks and stolen cash on them when they were arrested.
Levitt allegedly made full admissions once in police custody, revealing the pair had bought their Halloween masks from a store in Corrimal less than an hour before pulling off the heist.
Both applied for bail in court on Monday.
The court heard Malfitano suffered a significant intellectual disability resulting from a genetic condition, Fragile X syndrome.
She was described as someone who had struggled to make friends in adolescence and early adulthood, and was under Levitt’s influence in planning and preparation of the robbery.
“[She is] someone who has been easily manipulated throughout her life,” said her lawyer, Paul Craner, adding this was a symptom of her condition.
Malfitano was supported in court by her father, who offered to house her at his Illawong home, if she were granted bail.
But Malfitano nominated her boyfriend’s mother’s home as her preferred address – one of several factors that discouraged Magistrate Peter Thompson from granting her bail.
The court heard Levitt suffered from a schizophrenic illness. The magistrate also noted the seriousness of the alleged offences, and Levitt’s criminal history, which includes prior violent matters.
Bail was refused in both matters, which return to court December 19.