Suspects flee stolen car fire Cops seek help to nab fugitive pair
POLICE are after two suspects who allegedly leapt from a speeding stolen car that caught fire after a series of crashes.
About 3am yesterday police were called after a witness saw a Toyota Kluger, which had been stolen from Kirwan, crash into another vehicle on Beck Rd, Condon.
Eastern Patrol Group Acting Inspector Steve Batterham said the witness followed the stolen Toyota and saw it “suddenly” catch fire.
He said two suspects exited the burning car and fled on foot.
Insp Batterham suspected the offenders would have suffered injuries after jumping from the speeding SUV.
Once the pair leapt from the flaming Kluger, it continued to roll and crash into the front driver’s side of a four-wheeldrive along Thuringowa Drive in Kirwan, pushing it a number of metres.
A member of the public extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived.
“The actions of that person who put out the fire are to be praised,” Insp Batterham said.
“If it had of been into a fence, a blaze could have started there.”
The dog squad was called and detectives were continuing to investigate the car theft.
Late yesterday the two suspects remained on the loose.
Insp Batterham urged witnesses to contact police to help with investigations.
“We just reiterate to the community, we really need your help stopping crime,” he said.
He said witness accounts had resulted in a number of recent property-related offences, including car thefts, being solved.
Insp Batterham said a number of stolen cars remained unaccounted for as of yesterday.
Those stolen cars include a silver Mazda BT-50 and grey Volkswagen Tiguan stolen from Oonoonba, a white Ford Everest taken from Pallarenda, a blue Ford Falcon stolen from Burdell and a white Toyota Prado taken from Mount Low.
The crash comes a day after a teenage boy was injured in another stolen car crash.
The boy, 15, was arrested on Tuesday after he allegedly crashed a Toyota Landcruiser into a fence at Heatley.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Townsville crime rates have plummeted to the lowest recorded in years, but police don’t expect it to last and are preparing for the next influx of crime.