A 61-year-old truck driver has told of how he was attacked while asleep in the cabin of his truck at Shell Boggabilla.
“I was sleeping and woke up to a bloke hitting me on the shoulder with an iron bar. They were also carrying hammers and knives,” recalled Melbourne based truckie Darren Pincini.
“There were three blokes, one was in my truck, one was standing on the ground next to the driver’s door and the other one was in a white Jeep waiting for them.”
The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning on Thursday October 24 – and according to several reports, this was just one of several incidents that occurred on the same day.
“I spoke to another truck driver who was attacked at Shell Boggabilla earlier in the night; and spoke to another guy in the servo too. He said the same guys went to have a go at him while he was stopped near the Wobbly Boot Hotel, about 500 metres down the road from the Shell.
“But he was driving two-up, so when they approached, the other driver got out of the truck, so they jumped in their car and got going.
“Police also told me there were another two attacks on truck drivers at the BP Goondiwindi.”
Darren says in all his years on the road, this is the first time anything like this has ever happened him. Luckily, he too wasn’t injured.
Though he lives in Melbourne, he’s currently based in Moree, for the next six to eight weeks. “I drive tippers, as a triple road train, and we’re up here to work the harvest at the moment.”
As he spoke of what happened that night, Darren said, “They took a box of beer, a 10-pack of Coca-Cola and a 24-pack of water. They obviously don’t like ginger beer because they left that,” he joked.
“Then they wanted my wallet, so I got out of bed dressed in my jocks, sat in the driver’s seat and handed it over. I’m not silly enough to try and fight them!
“It probably took me 10 minutes or so to get my head together, then I’ve called the police. They said they already had officers coming from Moree to Boggabilla because of what else happened that night.”
To Darren’s shock though, the thieves came back again shortly after. As he explained, “They had kicked a bag of rubbish onto the floor outside from my passenger seat, so after they left, I got out and tried to pick it up.
“When I saw them, I said you’ve got nothing left to take and I got in the truck, locked the doors and couldn’t get going quick enough, so they’ve then tried to break the window with the iron bar before I’ve driven off.
“They were so brazen. That same white Jeep then came back again while the police were there at the service station.
“And the other truck driver who was set upon earlier in the night while parked at the back of the Shell Boggabilla, said they came back to him a second time too.”
Despite the perpetrators getting into Darren’s truck, he says he was surprised that the police didn’t check for fingerprints. “I got the feeling the police knew who it was but it still doesn’t explain why they’re not checking for fingerprints.”
As this sort of violence continues in and around Boggabilla, Darren says his fears are that someone could get really hurt.
“We’ve been hearing stories of this sort of thing happening in Boggabilla for the past 15 years. Obviously though, it has gotten worse. Is there a solution? I can’t think of one.
“For me, I’m lucky I don’t carry too many mental scars, it was what it was. But where does it escalate to? My fear is that if someone has a go at them one day, they’re going to fight back and someone is going to get hurt.
“I won’t be parking there again though. The next night I was supposed to stop in Goondiwindi but instead I parked up the road at Mooney.”
Police reveal details of night of crime
A statement released by NSW Police revealed details of the offences that occurred that same morning.
At about 3am on Thursday October 24, officers attached to New England Police District were called to Boggabilla after being told a 36-year-old man was asleep in the truck cabin when he was awoken by a male who threatened him with a knife and demanded money – taking off with a wallet and jewellery, again in a white Jeep Cherokee, believed to be stolen. He was uninjured.
At about 3.05am, a 59-year-old woman was driving along the Newell Highway when she pulled over and a Jeep Cherokee stopped beside her. The attackers demanded money and threatened her with an object before she drove off. She wasn’t injured.
At about 3:10am, a 66-year-old man reported to police that he was asleep in the cabin of his truck, parked behind the Shell service station in Boggabilla when the driver’s window was smashed. Someone entered the truck and hit the driver on the right knee with a claw hammer before threatening him and demanding money. The male offender stole the man’s wallet before driving off in the same white Jeep.
Darren alerted police of his incident at about 3.30am.
Then at about 3.45am a 46-year-old man told police he was with his truck near the petrol station when he was approached by an unknown man who was driving a Jeep. Officers were told the perpetrator left in the Jeep when the man called for his friend in the truck for assistance.
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