Cops on the hunt for crims

THREE teenagers have been arrested as part of an investigation into a stolen Toyota Fortuner.

Police took three teenage boys into custody this morning to assist police with the investigation into the car, which was allegedly stolen from Hyde Park on Sunday, July 17.

The stolen Fortuner has been involved in an alleged attempted carjacking, an alleged home invasion, and alleged rammings.

Townsville District Inspector Dean Cavanagh said a male, 15, was arrested in Garbutt about 8.30am Thursday.

“Around 9.30am, a 15-yearold male was arrested in Heatley and around 9.35am, a 14year-old male was arrested in Cranbrook,” he said.

Police have said they were looking for five males, between 16 and 24 years old, who allegedly dumped the vehicle in Kirwan on Thursday morning.

The Toyota Fortuner stolen from a Hyde Park house on Sunday night was involved in an attempted carjacking, a home invasion, and rammings before it was found abandoned at Kirwan early on Thursday morning.

Townsville District Inspector Dean Cavanagh said there was a team of officers tasked with tracking the group of violent suspects down.

“We don’t want to go too far into our investigative techniques for obvious reasons. We do have a dedicated team of both uniformed and plainclothes detectives, to try and locate and identify and arrest these and other offenders,” Inspector Cavanagh said.

The carnage began on Monday night when the Toyota Fortuner allegedly crashed into a parked car on Bowen Rd and drove dangerously around the area.

Early on Tuesday morning, the same vehicle was involved in the alleged ambush of a security patrol vehicle, ramming it repeatedly to the point it became undriveable.

Later that day, the same car was involved in an alleged home invasion at Douglas which left a resident and neighbour injured.

The car was finally dumped at Kirwan about 3am on Thursday.

District duty officer Senior Sergeant Joe Matheson said it appeared the group of people were about to set the car on fire before being interrupted, as a piece of cloth was found shoved down the entry to the fuel tank.

Inspector Cavanagh said police had trawled the car for clues.

“We currently have forensic teams going through that vehicle to gather any evidence whatsoever to ensure that we can identify and locate the offenders that area involved,” he said.

Inspector Cavanagh denied there had been a spike in crime, saying police have charged 22 people with 98 offences in the last seven days.

Since January, 548 people have been arrested for 2076 property-related charges, and 19 stolen cars have been stopped with tyre deflation devices.