Coast teen behind spate of burglaries in region

POLICE are searching for a teenage boy they believe is behind a spate of burglary offences in the Crows Nest and South Burnett area.

Investigators have identified a 17-year-old boy, believed to be from the Hervey Bay region, as a person of interest in relation to the incidents.

Crows Nest police Sergeant Greg Dawes said the teenager was wanted for questioning over the break and enter of the town’s IGA this week, as well as three burglaries in Nanango, and another in Yarraman.

Sgt Dawes said the IGA was broken into on Sunday, with CCTV showing a stolen car driven to the store and sliding glass entry doors smashed.

Investigations had connected that offences with other burglaries in the region Sgt Dawes said were “committed in a short amount of time”.

He allayed concerns crime was on the rise in the town, or that local offenders were targeting their home towns.

“What generally happens is there will be a spate through rural communities and it always seems to be that the offenders are travelling through and are not local,” he said.

“Offences have always been committed, it’s just now that we’re doing the fortnightly blog, people are actually being made aware of what’s going on in the division.

“It’s now being brought to people’s attention through the blog.”

Sgt Dawes urged people with knowledge of offences to report it to police rather than post it only on social media.

Once reports were made to police, that information could be acted on, he said.

“We do get limited information come through to us and I know people like to use Facebook to rant about the amount of drug use in the area, but they don’t actually provide that information to us,” he said.

“They will mention it on social media forums but never report it to us.”

People can be anonymous when contacting police through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.