Pollie a victim in crime ‘ crisis’

TOWNSVILLE’S LNP candidate Casie Scott has become one of the latest victims of the city’s continuing property crime problem.

Over the weekend through to yesterday morning, 17 homes were broken into and nine cars, including Audis and a Mercedes, were stolen.

While police were out raiding homes to find the culprits, an alleged offender hid in a downstairs bathroom under Ms Scott’s home.

“I feel absolutely violated,” Ms Scott said.

“The police were doing raids on the street … I think looking for drugs and stolen cars and this grub was one of them.

“He was running through the suburb and came into my house to hide, and he locked himself in my downstairs toilet. The police chased him here and arrested him.”

Ms Scott said crime in the city had become pervasive.

“The crime crisis in Townsville is an epidemic. Every single person that I speak to has been impacted by crime, either directly or indirectly. The mental impact this is having on the people in our city is unbelievable ... it’s rampant.”

Townsville Rapid Action Patrol group Inspector Joe Kitching said police were out hunting down the offenders yesterday and had found a number of the stolen cars.

“Four have now been located … in addition to those four cars, two additional cars and one motorbike have also been recovered that had been stolen earlier,” Insp Kitching said.

“Forensic examinations and investigative work remains ongoing to identify the offenders.”

He said some of the homes targeted were not secured, while others were broken into and keys stolen to then steal cars.

Insp Kitching said police were reminding people to be vigilant and to call police if they saw any suspicious activity.

“Investigations into the offences over the weekend remain ongoing,” he said.

If you have any information that can lead to the arrest of the people involved contact Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.