A man who allegedly robbed a renowned Victorian cartoonist has been caught, thanks to a detailed caricature drawn by his victim.
Police said the cartoonist, Bill 'Weg' Green, offered to draw a picture of the robber
"Being a caricaturist or cartoonist all my life I can remember faces immediately," Mr Green, 82, said this morning from the studio of his Heathmont home.
Mr Green confronted the robber in the carport of his home on Saturday about 10am after hearing swearing and cursing.
"I thought if I got in a fight and lost my dressing gown, I might end up starkers."
The robber then stole a red racing bicycle from the rear shed. But as Mr Green recounted, the bicycle was a 10-speed and had two flat tyres. As a result the man fell off it three or four times and continued to curse and swear loudly.
Eventually he got away.
When police arrived shortly afterwards, Mr Green offered to draw a picture of the alleged thief. He said he was standing in front of the man for nearly 20 seconds and had no problems sketching him.
Within half an hour, police took the drawing to other officers who had arrested a man for an incident at a hairdresser 600 metres from Mr Green's home in Bedford Road.
Senior constable Aaron Roche, who attended the scene, said: "It was amazing, the likeness was just fantastic."
The sketch only took the cartoonist three or four seconds, Mr Roche said. He said the alleged robber, "picked the wrong place to burgle."
Police said the cartoonist, Bill 'Weg' Green, offered to draw a picture of the robber
"Being a caricaturist or cartoonist all my life I can remember faces immediately," Mr Green, 82, said this morning from the studio of his Heathmont home.
Mr Green confronted the robber in the carport of his home on Saturday about 10am after hearing swearing and cursing.
"I thought if I got in a fight and lost my dressing gown, I might end up starkers."
The robber then stole a red racing bicycle from the rear shed. But as Mr Green recounted, the bicycle was a 10-speed and had two flat tyres. As a result the man fell off it three or four times and continued to curse and swear loudly.
Eventually he got away.
When police arrived shortly afterwards, Mr Green offered to draw a picture of the alleged thief. He said he was standing in front of the man for nearly 20 seconds and had no problems sketching him.
Within half an hour, police took the drawing to other officers who had arrested a man for an incident at a hairdresser 600 metres from Mr Green's home in Bedford Road.
Senior constable Aaron Roche, who attended the scene, said: "It was amazing, the likeness was just fantastic."
The sketch only took the cartoonist three or four seconds, Mr Roche said. He said the alleged robber, "picked the wrong place to burgle."