Man charged over incident at Lake Macquarie service station

A man will face court charged over two alleged robberies in the region on Friday, September 11.

Police were called to a service station at Warners Bay about 11am where they were told a man had threatened a 47-year-old employee with a knife before stealing cash and fleeing the scene on foot.

The incident sparked a police operation during which the Ampol service station on King Street was cordoned off, as officers began making inquiries.

A spokesman for the fuel and convenience network said Ampol was aware of the incident, and was supporting staff where required, but confirmed no one was injured.

The business re-opened and was operating as normal on Friday afternoon.

Just over an hour after the first officers arrived on the scene, they arrested a 48-year-old man at Fassifern, police said in a statement about 7.30pm, after declining multiple requests to confirm details of the incident throughout the day.

A search of the property where the man was found allegedly uncovered a a knife, sunglasses, a pair of gloves and a mobile phone, all of which was seized, the statement said. A white hatchback was also seized to be forensically examined.

The man was taken to Toronto police station, where he was charged with two counts of attempted robbery and another charge relating to robbery with an offensive weapon.

Officers alleged the same man was involved in an attempted robbery at a newsagency at New Lambton earlier on Friday.

He was refused bail by police and ordered to face a Bail Court on Saturday, September 12.