Channel Ten Ten Eyewitness News reporter Jayde Cotic remained calm and carried on as a man was getting arrested (loudly) in the middle of a live cross on Monday in the Gold Coast.
While Cotic reported live on police finding a missing five-year-old girl at Carrara, in the background a man was arrested after allegedly trying to shoplift from 7-Eleven. The 20-year-old Southport man was charged with two counts of stealing and one count each of public nuisance and obstruct police.
Ten Eyewitness News posted the footage on its Facebook page with the headline “Caught In the Act- Criminal arrested during a #TenNews LIVE cross.
“The hapless thief was arrested in Carrara on the Gold Coast after allegedly trying to shoplift from 7-Eleven. The incident occurred while dozens of police involved with the search for missing five-year-old Jocelyn, were at the scene.”
Queensland Police applauded Cotic in a press release saying “To her credit, Ten Eyewitness News reporter Jayde Cotic maintained her composure despite the arrest occurring just behind her on live television.”
Full Release:
A man and a woman have been charged following an incident at a service station complex which turned into a police command post to find a missing five-year-old girl at Carrara yesterday.
The arrest of the man occurred in the background of a live television news report regarding the missing girl being found.
It will be alleged around 4.45pm, officers were alerted to a man who was creating a disturbance inside the Nielsens Road store after being recognised by an attendant as being involved in previous stealing matters.
Two police inspectors still at the scene following the Amber Alert quickly attended to assist as the man created a disturbance.
Several news crews were also still reporting from the scene when the man was arrested and detained by police.
The 20-year-old Southport man was charged with two counts of stealing and one count each of public nuisance and obstruct police.
A woman, known to the man, was also arrested in a parked vehicle at a petrol bowser, metres from police, after a quantity of cannabis, a knife and other items were allegedly uncovered.
The 19-year-old woman was charged with one count each of possessing dangerous drugs, possession of a knife in a public place and possessing items used in the commission of a crime.
The pair is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on August 12.
To her credit, Ten Eyewitness News reporter Jayde Cotic maintained her composure despite the arrest occurring just behind her on live television.
