Security pictures show a mother and two children being carjacked at Chermside by a thief with a sword. Video: Police

A thug on a crime spree has threatened a woman and her two young children with an axe and large knife.

The mother was putting her young infants into the back of her car about 4.30pm yesterday when the man drove a car onto the footpath in Chermside West in Brisbane.

The man got of out the stolen Mitsubishi and approached the mother, holding the knife and axe up to her and opening the doors of the car her children were in, CCTV footage released by Queensland Police shows.

The carjacker demanded the vehicle from the mother, 35, and as she is pulling her small children from the vehicle he begins to load the car with his possessions.

She barely manages to get her children out of the car before the man jumps in the car and speeds off.

Police are still looking for the stolen white Ford Focus hatchback. The vehicle’s registration is 775 YNH.

The suspect, who is still at large, had allegedly been on a crime spree. Earlier that day the 24-year-old allegedly pulled a knife on police officers. The officers had confronted the man about allegedly stealing from a shopping centre in Loganholme.

Police also believe the man threatened an elderly couple in Sherwood on Monday with a knife, and demanded money. The couple refused him and he fled in the orange Mitsubishi used in the carjacking, which he’d stolen on March 2 from Hillcrest.

The man has reportedly been seen driving dangerously. Police have warned not to approach him but to call triple-0 (000) with any information regarding his whereabouts.