A man from a town near where alleged the Porepunkah police killer Dezi Freeman vanished has been charged during the search for the fugitive, police say.
Victoria police on Sunday said they had arrested a 61-year-old man in Bright just before 5pm on Friday.
Police seized weapons and “a quantity of cannabis” from the house they found him in, they alleged.
The man was charged with possessing an imitation firearm and possessing cannabis.
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He was bailed to appear before Myrtleford magistrates court on 3 October, police said.
Police said whether the Bright man was associated with Freeman “forms part of the ongoing investigation” into the fugitive accused of killing two police officers.
The search for Freeman on Sunday dragged into its sixth day with hundreds of police continuing to scour Victoria’s high country wilderness.
Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, fled into the bush on Tuesday after a fatal confrontation at a property in Porepunkah, about 300km north-east of Melbourne.
He is accused of killing Det Leading Sen Const Neal Thompson, 59, and Sen Const Vadim De Waart, 35.
Tough conditions have affected search efforts, with blizzard-like conditions and lashings of rain battering the rural town.
More than 450 police officers have been deployed to Porepunkah as part of the search, which has included examining disused mines, caves and dugouts in and around the rural community.
Police say they have received several reported sightings of Freeman since he went on the run, though none have been confirmed.
“There have been alleged sightings which we’re exploring,” said Victoria police’s chief commissioner, Mike Bush.
“We can’t confirm that they are of him but if you think you see him, let us know. We’ll explore it.”
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A police forward command post was relocated on Saturday from Feathertop Winery just outside Porepunkah to a government office in the town of Ovens, about 12km away.
“The new site is a fit-for-purpose facility and will best support Victoria Police’s operational activity moving forward,” the force said.
“We would like to reassure the community that police are not leaving the area.”
On Thursday night Freeman’s 42-year-old wife and a 15-year-old boy were arrested during a raid at a Porepunkah address. They were interviewed and released.
“There may or may not be charges that follow,” Bush said.
Police helicopters and drones have been circling the area for days in the hope of catching a sign of the fugitive’s whereabouts.
Freeman, who has bush survival experience, was last seen in dark green tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, Blundstone boots and reading glasses, police said.
He is believed to be a “sovereign citizen”, a follower of a pseudo-legal ideology that rejects government authority and the rule of law.
