KID CRIMS DAY OF
TOWNSVILLE has come under siege by “relentless” crime as police battle with car thieves to gain control of the city.
Acting Superintendent Chris Lawson said police had been inundated with car thefts and break-ins in the past fortnight, which came to a head yesterday and saw innocent drivers rammed, violent carjackings and about 10 cars stolen on Wednesday night.
Supt Lawson said the “outlandish behaviour” began with a stolen car crash at Riverway Dr at Condon yesterday morning.
The owner of a stolen blue Ford sedan saw it driving around about 5.30am, and followed it in a maroon four-wheel drive. It had been stolen from a Sharon Cres house at Kelso.
Acting Superintendent Lawson said one of the cars was rammed by the other, forcing them down an embankment and writing off both vehicles.
A stolen Landcruiser, which was close by, tried to run down a man who came to the aid of the driver in the crashed car.
The juveniles from the Ford fled in the Landcruiser.
Acting Superintendent Lawson said the carnage didn’t stop there.
About 8.30am, a group of juveniles rolled a caravan after a carjacking in Belgian Gardens.
David and Anne Bent were preparing their beloved caravan for their final journey to Victoria after selling it to new owners.
Mr Bent was attaching the caravan to the couple’s Toyota Landcruiser at their Belgian Gardens home when a juvenile jumped in the vehicle and took off. They drove it about 30m down the road, but the caravan rolled, and the juveniles fled in a stolen Mazda SUV.
About 11am, the stolen Mazda was dumped outside City Libraries at Aitkenvale, and a group of juveniles ran from the car.
Police converged on the area and four people were arrested
Three juveniles, a 14-year-old boy, 16-year-old boy and 13-year-old female, have all been taken into custody pending charges. A 30-year-old man has
also been taken into custody. The Landcruiser involved in the Condon incident was found dumped at Wulguru about 1pm.
The QGAIR helicopter was called in by police about 10am to help track down the outstanding cars.
Acting Superintendent Lawson said the decision to request the rescue helicopter was an easy one.
“It’s not so much a decision that’s difficult to make, it’s a very easy decision considering the events of this morning,” Acting Superintendent Lawson said.
“We haven’t seen the number of cars getting around for quite a while.
“So when the request was made, was authorised as soon as possible.”
Acting Superintendent Lawson said police were pouring every resource it
they had into gaining control. An incident centre was set up at the Rapid Action Patrol Group, headed up by Inspector Roger Whyte.
Police used RAP crews, tactical units, uniformed crews, and CCTV to try to stop the carnage. Acting Superintendent Lawson Lawson said he didn’t know how many offenders were out there, but they had a key group of repeat juveniles offenders in mind.
He said there was “nothing specifically” that had happened that he could attribute the crime spike to.
Acting Superintendent Lawson Lawson warned the community to leave the crime fighting up to police.
“That’s always a concern for us … we don’t wasn’t to see members of the public put themselves in positions where they can be held to account.”