Rampage in the City West Perth, Western Australia, Australia
By Lazarus_68 on 11-Nov-15. Waypoint GA7430

Cache Details

Difficulty:
Terrain:
Type: Multi-cache
Container: Micro
Coordinates: S31° 57.222' E115° 50.000' (WGS 84)
  50J 389743E 6464102N (UTM)
Elevation: 62 m
Local Government Area: Perth

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Description

The true story of a 'tank' driving through Perth's CBD

In the early hours of Thursday 27th April 1993, an armoured personnel carrier (APC) 'tank' was stolen from Irwin Barracks, driven through Perth's city streets, leaving destruction in its wake, targeted primarily at Police. Details below.

The cache is NOT at posted coordinates, but is within Perth City CBD; a mint tin (magnetic) containing log book and pencil.

It may be found at: S31°57.XYY'  E115°5A.BC7' to be determined by visiting five of the six listed waypoints, which the APC itself visited, as follows...


REFERENCE [S31°57.557' E115°47.512'] Irwin Barracks, Karrakatta  (7km SW of CBD) northern gate where APC broke out.
REFERENCE [S31°56.476' E115°48.471'] Wembley Police Station (6km west of CBD) first target.


1) Visit ONE of either:

  • [S31°57.645' E115°52.729'] WA Police HQ, East Perth. Rear entry has height restriction sign; Y = both digits summed; OR
  • [S31°57.018' E115°51.813'] City Police CIB, Northbridge. At rear stands a parking meter; Y = double the "CTI-n" digit, top right.

2) Visit [S31°57.516' E115°52.302] intersection of Hay and Bennett Streets, where APC was photographed. Check the pole nearest bin, supporting traffic light directing Hay St;  X = one-digit number minus four.

3) Visit [S31°57.373' E115°51.689'] Bus Stop shelter (St Georges Tce) demolished when TRG officers mounted the vehicle; A = middle digit of bus stop number.

4) Visit [S31°57.339' E115°51.787'] Central Law Courts (501 Hay St), front wall damaged, witnessed from Kings Hotel. The car park has a height restriction sign; B = three digits summed, minus one.

5) Visit [S31°57.155' E115°50.926'] view of State Parliament House, from where APC was filmed by news crew. Lamp post shows four-digit number; C = second digit.


West Australian 29 April 1993, page 3


Armoured personnel carrier rampaging Perth streets

In May 1993 [sic, 27 April 1993] WA Police were confronted with a rampaging 11 tonne tracked vehicle driven by Gary Alan Hayes, 31 years, who had stolen the vehicle from an army depot. His first attack was on the Wembley Police Station, located 10km from the city, at 4.40am crashing through a fence, damaging a police vehicle, as well as the building itself. Detectives from this station had been dealing with him over other criminal offences. He had previously been charged over $78,000 worth of counter- terrorist equipment stolen from the SAS barracks in November 1992. Police attended and he then crashed into the rear of their van knocking them into a lamp post. He then travelled into the city, to Police Headquarters and the City Police Station where at 5.15am he smashed through security gates. He then commenced to run over six police vehicles and a motor cycle, as well as private vehicles, parked in the secure area. Crashing his way out and demolishing the exit gates, he then travelled to the Central Law Courts, slamming into the masonry supports to this building. He then travelled to the CIB building in Beaufort Street, Perth and caused further damage, but could not get past the bollards guarding the building. Travelling onto Parliament House, he circled the building and stopped. Police negotiators attempted to talk to him through a slit in the front of the vehicle, but he set off again into the central city.
Police had noticed that a hatch on the vehicle was not totally secure. Three officers climbed onto the vehicle from the rear. The driver became aware and he attempted to dislodge them by driving into a bus shelter, which he demolished in the process. The TRG officers managed to drop a tear-gas grenade into the vehicle through the loose hatch, which also gave them entry, finally arresting the offender who resisted arrest violently at about 6.15am. It was then discovered that the vehicle was not carrying ammunition for its guns. He was charged on 19 counts of Criminal Damage, burglary and Assault of Police Officers.
Constable D. Shaw and Constable A.J. Power received a Commissioner’s Certificate of Merit for their actions resulting in the arrest of this person.

Source: Western Australia Police: "Episodes in WA's Policing History"


What happened to Gary Hayes?

On June 9, 1987, Gary Hayes was questioned by police in suburban Scarborough. He was taken to the nearby Wembley CIB. During a night and day in police custody, Gary was beaten and strangled and whipped across the face with handcuffs. He names five detectives as involved. He was charged for a break-in of a City Beach deli. The window found broken at the kiosk was too small for Gary to have climbed through, and despite blood on a fridge at the kiosk, Gary had no cuts on him. Gary says that shards of glass from the kiosk window were put into his jumper by the police. He was then released on bail.
The doctor he saw at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital minimised the extent of his injuries. Understandably upset, Gary visited a psychiatrist, who said he was OK. Four days later, early one morning, after collaboration with the psychiatrist, police arrived with a warrant. Gary was taken to Graylands Psychiatric Hospital for a week-long assessment. The psychiatrists told Gary that he was suffering from "paranoid delusions" and that he had not been bashed or framed by the police. Gary was held in Graylands maximum security for a month, during which time he was injected with Chlorpromazine, a drug used for acute schizophrenia.
When Gary went to court later in 1987 on the breaking and entering charge, his lawyer recommended he plead guilty "in order to stay out of prison". Gary was convicted. His subsequent appeal failed. To pay the $6500 fine, he had to sell everything he owned. In early 1988 Gary was sitting in a friend's car when approached by police. One of the officers had also arrested him in June 1987. He was pulled from the car, dragged and "elbowed" in the jaw repeatedly. On August 13, 1991, as he was walking into town, a police car began following him. Gary was questioned before being kneed in the groin. Then he was kicked in the head and back and punched by several police, sustaining a cracked rib, bruising and a severe lump on his head.
Gary began to speak out publicly. He contacted the media, approached parliamentarians, complained to the ombudsman, contacted civil liberties and human rights groups. The treatment he had received made him fear for his life. In order to defend himself from the police, he got a gun. When the police raided his house, he was charged with possession of that firearm and was due to appear in court on April 28, 1993. Gary knew he had to bring wider attention to his plight.
On the night of April 27, he took an 11-tonne armoured personnel carrier from the Irwin Army Barracks in suburban Karrakatta, driving through streets to Wembley CIB, where he used the tank to ram a police car through the wall of the police station he had been bashed in. Pushing a second police van into a light pole, he drove on to city police headquarters, smashing the heavy metal gates and ramming police vehicles. He then drove to the central law courts, smashing the front of building. In court, Gary attempted to speak of the injustices he had endured. He was unable to put his case and was remanded to Casuarina prison, being held in isolation. His bail application was delayed by "lost paperwork".
On August 25, prison doctors and a Graylands psychiatrist authorised a dozen prison guards to forcibly inject him with the neuroleptic drug Fluphenazine. Neuroleptics are the most potent of all psychiatric drugs and can cause permanent brain damage. Fluphenazine acts on the central nervous system, causing loss of control and uncontrollable jerking and shaking. The effects on Gary so far have been memory loss, jaw crunching, muscle spasms, restricted motor movements, dribbling, compliancy, complacency, minimal attention span, speech impairment, excessive drowsiness, incapacity to think clearly or concentrate. Becoming more compliant and complacent is judged by the doctors and the legal system as his condition "improving". It is intended to keep Gary on the medication for 12 months without review. On November 1, a solicitor entered a guilty plea on Gary's behalf. Judge Viol is withholding sentence until December 17. The danger is that the psychiatric report will carry a lot of weight, and that Gary's evidence will not even be heard. This could result in Gary being legally classified as insane for speaking out about police violence.

Source: Green Left Weekly: Issue# 123 (17-Nov-1993)


Hints

TM Gjb Gjb Mreb Fvk
ROT 13: ABCDEFGHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Decode

Logs

19-Jan-22
Bit of a shame given the effort you put into creating this cache and it was a great caching experience.
 
18-Jan-22
For various reasons I have decided to archive this one.
Appreciate effort made by those cachers who participated.
Good to see the magnet still going strong after all this time.
 
27-Apr-18
Today is 25th Anniversary of this incident.
 
10-Apr-18
I looked at this cache many times and last year decided to tackle this one. So i printed it off to save lots of phone power and worked out a plan. Over a space of many months i visited the necessary locations and eventually had the numbers. But something did not add up so back to the drawing board for another plan. And yet again much time spent (a couple of months) and went around to the sites again and gathered up the necessary info. I left it in my book for a while and then seemed to forget about lots of caching for a while. I was in the the city one day and thought that i have not solved this. So when i got home found the book and solved it very quickly. Not sure what went wrong on the previous occasion. I went to the city for an event last week and i walked around the cbd gathering a few caches for the planet chase. I was in the nearby area and went to the gz and thought ok where would he hide this and then ironically the first place i looked i found the cache. I do not know why i looked where i did bu there seemed to be no places in the opposite direction. Signed the log and headed off for the train. TFTC Lazarus_68 and for the interesting event that occurred. I was not in this state when it took place as i was back in SA for work and missed it all. Clan Minotaur
 
04-Feb-18
Upgraded D/T ratings 3.5 acknowledging realistic effort required.
 
06-May-17
Out on the bike today looking for a couple of caches, grabbed a very big hint from Lazarus, many thanks for the cache.
 
18-Feb-17
Removed requirement to visit both Irwin Barracks & Wembley Police Station
Added Co-ord checker.
 
19-Oct-16
Been wanting to do Rampage since I read the cache page the day it came out ... glad I made time for it this week as this is a truly great multi! I picked up the CBD waypoints on Saturday (with a bit of help from the CO at one ... but turns out I shouldn't have needed the help). Did the Irwin Barracks and the Wembley Police Station on the way to a seminar today, and dropped by the final at about 8pm.

Interesting final GZ ... there were a few people about and I was a bit hesitant at first, but after a bit I realised that no-one was taking any notice of me. So I was able to suss out the hide, sign the log and return the cache with no problems.

Great to visit waypoints with real meaning. It was interesting thinking about the events that occurred at each waypoint location. And thinking about how it would feel driving to the Police Station having just crashed through the gates at Irwin Barracks ... he might have been feeling fairly powerful at that stage. Then thinking about how it all panned out. Gary's story is a shocker, more so in the knowledge that this is not an isolated case.

This was an excellent caching experience from the initial awareness raising through to finding the cache and beyond, as I am sure I will ponder this story for a long time to come. My only regret is that I won't have time to visit the alternative waypoints before I cross the ditch to NZ.

SL. Thanks for the hide Lazarus_68
Clan Minotaur
 
13-Aug-16
Found after many months of collecting the points. Like other cachers before me I think this cache was well worth the time and walks. Although had to get some checks from CO to finally get the location. Great locations, great history and working in the mental health field myself, it's good to see awareness of this type of thing. TFTC Lazarus
 
13-Aug-16
Joint find with shaydex
 
29-Feb-16
Wow. What a great multi. Lots of thought put into it. I really appreciate that each of the waypoints has meaning to the cache (and even GZ). Whilst it is not "convenient" to travel for some of the waypoints, it is definitely worth it to get a sense of the story. I visited the waypoints over a period of 3 months when I was nearby for some reason. So don't feel the need to rush, but just keep chipping away it.

Definitely a sad story as well. Being touched in a few different ways with mental health issues, most of us take it for granted but it is much more fragile and common than you might think.

If you are thinking of doing a multi, do this one as I would put it as a benchmark in the world of Perth GCA caches. 5 stars.

Acknowledged that there is a sharp pencil inside so ignore my comments about not bringing a pen. Rolling Eyes
 
23-Feb-16
Yay. I found it. Boo. I forgot a pen. Yay. I will log it on the 29th. See you next week. And full congratulatory log then Smile
 
23-Feb-16
Came looking early this morning but felt suss as there were a few people around but not many and then some random cyclist (me) lurking around. Might come back at lunch time when more distractions for the staff.
 
14-Feb-16
After an unsuccessful mission last time, a check up from the CO verified that I had 1 digit incorrect, so this afternoon I was very happy to come back and turn that frowny upside down. The only find for this afternoon amidst a string of did not finds and did not attempts.

Thanks for the fun multi Lazarus_68!
 
30-Jan-16
Over the last few weeks I've tracked down all the waypoints for this cache, and on Tuesday I found the last 2, and put the coordinates together. Today I was in the city and able to have a look for this one, the coordinates put me at a very good spot, but unfortunately I couldn't find the cache. The hint also made no sense at all to me, so maybe I wasn't in the right place...
 
29-Dec-15
We really liked this multi even though it took the best part of the day to complete. We started by car on our way to an appointment and completed it on foot afterwards. The content is a little disturbing and really makes you think. Thank you Lazarus, this multi goes in our list of best ever caches.
 
25-Dec-15
Spent the past few weeks slowly acquiring the waypoints. Staying in the city with the family over Christmas so grabbed the last wp then off to the final.
Took a few minutes but finally spotted the cache.
Log signed and was on my way. Merry Christmas and TFTC.
 
30-Nov-15
"FTF @ 0930 Checked my co-ords with the CO and after confirmation they were correct found in the first place I looked after a quick ride in on the deadly Very HappyDancingSmileWhistle
TFTC
 
29-Nov-15
Sorry for inconvenience, searched around for a good GZ with few muggles plus more open help GPS accuracy; also way-points simplified. Mr. Green
 
12-Nov-15
Need to make some necessary improvements.
 
12-Nov-15
Got good sensible answers and co-ords but no cache present - not that I could see anyway.
 
11-Nov-15
Very much looking forward to doing this. Will start this afternoon.
 
11-Nov-15
Published on Remembrance Day, lest we forget... Pray
 
Perth (C) - dragonZone
2.25 79.94
0.00 79.94
dragonZone Points
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