Just hours after police requested the public’s assistance while pleading with them to “keep away,” a search for a suspected bikie associate has come to an end.
Police were looking for Joshua Colin Duperouzel, 25, to assist them in their investigations into Joseph Versace’s death in Gnangara, Perth, on Thursday.
Versace, 34, is said to have been executed in broad daylight in a brazen daylight shooting, with rescuers unable to save his life.
Four days later, police released a picture of Duperouzel and asked anybody with information to contact them before announcing that he had been detained on Monday.
In a statement, WA Police advised the public not to approach Mr. Duperouzel because he could have access to a gun.
In the Belmont neighborhood of Perth, less than 30 minutes from Gnangara, Duperouzel was taken into custody.
Duperouzel is 186 cm tall and is of average frame with fair complexion, a shaved head, and green eyes.
Quentin Flatman, a detective with the Major Crime Division, had already asked Duperouzel to turn himself up.
“We want anybody who sees Mr. Duperouzel to call Crime Stoppers and let us know,” said Detective Inspector. stated Flatman.
We also make a personal appeal to Mr. Duperouzel, asking him to come forward to the police if he sees this. You may do this by turning yourself in at a police station or by letting us know where you are so we can speak with you.
A black BMW X5 that was spotted driving away from the area before it was abandoned in Glen Forest is still being sought for by police.
Col. Blanch, the police commissioner, said on Friday that while investigators were interviewing several witnesses, they had not yet taken a suspect into custody.
Over the weekend, there were many raids, and top Rebels bikie Karl Labrook was spotted being led by police from a Ridgewood residence.
According to Mr. Blanch, the victim was recognized by the police and was thought to be connected to bikie groups.
He threatened that the police would respond to any reprisal assaults with force.
As the commissioner for Western Australia, he said to reporters on Friday, “I will not accept cold-blooded murders or acts of violence in public.”
The gang crime squad will come after you if you start acting out of line or if you start doing stuff like this.
Connie Versace, the sister of Mr. Versace, denied any connection between her brother and any biker organizations.
He was clearly not a biker, unlike what has been said, she stated.
I’m doing this because I want people to know that he was an excellent guy, not because it’s entirely true.
As “a lot of people do today,” Ms. Versace acknowledged that her brother could have been associated with bikers.
She said, “He’s not a mobster, he wasn’t an angel, but who is, he’s done some dumb things.
The fact that her brother was associated with an illegal motorcycle gang and painted as a “horrible guy,” according to Ms. Versace, infuriated her.
When their father died away in October 2020, she referred to her brother as the “rock” who held the family together.
Versace had a long history of association with illegal motorcycle gangs in Western Australia; the 34-year-old victim had previously been associated with the Rebels and the Comancheros.
The West claims that Versace has been in and out of prison for the last 16 years, serving his first term at the age of 18.
Versace was accused of participating in a joint criminal operation to distribute illegal substances in 2015, but the allegations were eventually withdrawn.
Versace’s July 2021 Facebook profile image of him peeing on a police vehicle also gave the impression that he had no love lost with the law.