Teen held over thefts

Two Corio houses burgled

A TEENAGE boy is in custody after reports of two alleged aggravated burglaries in Corio early yesterday.

The number of aggravated burglary offences in Corio reached a 10-year high between March 2017-18, according to latest data from the Crime Statistics Agency.

The 15-year-old was arrested just before dawn when the police dog squad searched Corio streets.

Police said officers were called to a Goodwin Court house just after 3am after reports of an alleged aggravated burglary.

The female occupant told police cash and jewellery were taken. She was not injured.

Soon after, police were called to investigate another alleged aggravated burglary in nearby Goodall Court, with the dog squad called in to assist officers with their search.

Police allege a teenage boy seen riding his bicycle jumped off the bike and ran from officers. He was arrested shortly afterwards.

A bag of allegedly stolen cash and jewellery was found near the bike.

Yesterday afternoon, the teen was still in custody assisting police with inquiries and no charges had been laid.

While police made major inroads in the past year to drive down burglary and thefts, aggravated burglaries remain an issue.

Last week, Geelong region Superintendent Craig Gillard said police would continue to focus on the crime after data revealed Greater Geelong’s aggravated burglary rate increased 15.64 per cent in the past year.

The number of recorded offences rose from 183 to 217.

Geelong Advertiser analysis of the data found 25 per cent of all aggravated burglaries in the region were in Corio.

The number of aggravated burglaries in Corio grew from 23 to 55 in a year — the highest number since records began in 2009.

In the same period Norlane had 13 aggravated burglaries, Newtown and East Geelong each recorded nine and Lara had seven.