A businessman in Queensland has been forced to beef-up security around several of his fruit stands, after a man was caught red handed stealing large amounts of bananas and fleeing the scene.
The man, dressed in a black sleeveless shirt, wearing a dark cap backwards and driving in a Maserati, was spotted pulling up to one roadside banana stall about 3.30pm on Thursday.
In the footage, the man approached the stand and began loading up on as many bananas as he could physically carry before leaving the stand, allegedly without paying.
In the footage, the man approached the stand and began loading up on as many bananas as he could physically carry before leaving the stand, allegedly without paying. Picture: Nine
The stand’s business owner, Aaron Marsh said he didn’t have an issue if he had no money ‘and the kids are hungry, grab a banana’.
His issue is that the man clearly has ‘lots of money’ due to his luxury car and was upset that he felt the need to ‘blatantly help himself’.
The man appeared to be driving a Maserati Levante, which start from more than $157,000 in Australia.
‘That’s upsetting,’ Mr Marsh told Nine News.
The business owner currently owns seven banana stalls across Cairns that are unmanned. The stall operates on an honesty system, where customers can pay either with cash or card.
The unmanned stands operate on an honesty system, which may be forced to change if thieves continue to steal. Picture: Nine
However, due to a spike in alleged thefts, Mr Marsh has been forced to consider closing down the stalls.
‘If everyone thieves, they will probably go and everyone has to go to the supermarkets,’ he said.
Signs show that the bananas are $2 per kilogram, a significant discount on what major retailers charge.
Mr Marsh said he tried to keep his prices low as more and more people came under financial stress.
‘We have kept our prices at such a low rate, everyone’s feeling the pinch these days,’ Mr Marsh said.
