By Alesha Capone
A man who wore a gold knuckleduster while committing an armed robbery in Werribee has been sentenced to a community correction order.
Rhyce Andrusiak, 27, faced the County Court last month, where he pleaded guilty to the armed robbery, plus two unrelated summary charges, of possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing cartridge ammunition without a licence.
The court heard that Andrusiak was with his co-offender Isikeli Walls and another, unknown male when he committed the armed robbery on September 2 last year.
Around 12.30am, Andrusiak and his two co-offenders drove to Chirnside Park football oval.
Wells approached a car in which three 18-year-old males were sitting, and opened the driver’s door.
Judge Irene Lawson said that Wells “stood over” the young man in the driver’s seat and removed the keys from the ignition, before demanding his phone and wallet.
At the same time, Andrusiak – who was wearing wearing a gold-coloured knuckleduster on his right hand – forcibly opened the front passenger-side door of the vehicle and yelled at the passenger, “Give me your phone, give me your wallet”.
Judge Lawson said Andrusiak also demanded the passenger’s gold watch.
The unidentified co-accused male approached the rear passenger side of the vehicle and demanded the third passenger get out and hand over his wallet and phone.
After the trio of offenders drove away, the incident was reported to police. Officers later executed a search warrant at Andrusiak’s home, where they found a taser, two gold-coloured knuckledusters, a press seal bag containing two shotgun cartridges, a press seal bag containing two .22 rim fire cartridges and an extendable baton.
Judge Lawson said she accepted that Andrusiak’s offending took part at “a low ebb” in his life, after the breakdown of a long-term relationship.
She said he was also “mixing with negative peers” and heavily abusing alcohol and Xanax at the time.
But she said that Andrusiak now felt “extremely remorseful” for his criminal behaviour.
She sentenced Andrusiak to a two-year community correction order, including 200 hours of community work and rehabilitation for drugs.
At a separate trial, Walls, 24, was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order.
