Sunday 7 August 2022 05:01 PM WA police stop stripper on Perth's King Street shopping mall carrying fake ... trends now
Heavily-armed police swarmed on a handsome man strolling by a busy shopping centre carrying what looked like an assault rifle after terrified shoppers raised the alarm.
Police emergency response units cordoned off a large part of central Perth fearing a shoot out with the well-chiseled suspect who was also donning a bulletproof vest.
There was an intense panic running through Western Australia's elite Special Response Group as the mysterious figure casually made his way across the city's upmarket Kings Street retail mall on Sunday.
But when officers made their move, they quickly realised there had been a terrible mix-up.
The suspected gunman was actually a 31-year-old exotic dancer named Chad Satchell, who was on his way to work dressed in a police SWAT costume - and the rifle was just a prop.
Adult entertainer Chad Satchell was arrested by police after onlookers became alarmed by his realistic stripper costume
Mr Satchell was detained by police who may still charge him if the assault weapon turns out to be a gel blaster, which is illegal in WA
A WA police officer displays the seized 'assault rifle', which is believed to be a gel pellet blaster
The drama unfolded at around 2.40pm (WST) after police received two separate reports of a man posing as a police officer with a large firearm.
The rifle seized by police is believed to be a gel pellet blaster which he could still be charged over, but it's still unclear whether the prop had been disabled.
Gel blasters are illegal in WA and can attract maximum penalties of up to three years in prison or a $36,000 fine.
WA outlawed gel blasters - which shoot water-filled gel pellets at 100m/second - in July last year because criminals
