They breed 'em tough in PK - Port Kembla that is.
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A teenage criminal found that out the hard way earlier this year when he tried to hold up a local service station with a knife, but ended up fleeing in fright when the owners confronted him with a baseball bat.
While the boy, aged 17 at the time, cannot be named for legal reasons, his still-young co-offender and self-confessed getaway driver has been identified in court as Tenesha Krause.
Krause's role in the botched heist - which included a comedy of errors that made their eventual arrest an almost foregone conclusion - can finally be revealed after the 23-year-old pleaded guilty in Wollongong Local Court to a charge of assault with intent to rob.
A set of agreed facts tendered to the court said Krause parked her navy blue BMW outside a home on Sixth Avenue on the evening of June 22 this year, letting her young accomplice out of the vehicle while she waited inside.
The court heard the teen walked along Sixth Avenue before turning onto Illawarra Street and stopping outside South Petrol Station.
He waited for the sole customer to leave before entering the store, wearing Nike runners, light grey track pants with an Adidas logo and a black hooded puffer jacket.
He also had his face concealed with a full-faced balaclava.
The teen reached under his jacket and puled out a knife, described as being about 20cm long.
He demanded cash, telling the two owners standing behind the counter "give me all your money".
The male owners replied "you bastard, get out of here" before jumping the front counter.
The teen pointed the knife at the man, prompting the female owner to grad a nearby baseball bat.
The petrified teen turned around and fled the store empty handed, pursued by one of the victims, who chased him back down Sixth Avenue.
The court heard a witness heard someone yell out for help, and turned to see the teen enter Krause's BMW
The witness, who was close enough to hear the conversation between the teen and Krause, later told police the teen said "go, go, go" as he jumped in the slowly moving car.
Krause told the teen to "hurry up", then sped off once he was inside.
Police arrived on the scene a few minutes later and were able to view CCTV footage from a nearby home that captured the getaway.
Officers were able to make out the vehicle's number plate and a quick check on the police computer system revealed the car was registered to Krause.
Meanwhile, officers conducting patrols of the area later that evening stopped the BMW in nearby Kemblawarra. They discovered the knife concealed between the front passenger seat and the passenger door.
Both Krause and the teen were taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station and charged.
Krause will remain on bail ahead of her sentencing in March.
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