To be attributed to Inspector Terry van Dillen, Wellington City Police Prevention Manager
Last night, Wellington Police arrested and charged five individuals in connection to a spate of thefts from vehicles.
Just after 11pm, two offenders aged 18 and 15 were arrested after being spotted breaking in to cars in Thorndon. A team effort between Central Communications Centre, Dog Unit, Crime Squad and Police Safety Team staff managed to apprehend the young men at two separate locations after they absconded from the scene. Both will appear in court today.
Later, at about 2am this morning, Police were alerted to three men breaking in to cars in Aro Valley. All three offenders were quickly apprehended and face charges in court today relating to the theft from the vehicles and other outstanding matters.
Wellington Police would like to thank the members of the community who called us when they noticed suspicious activity. Also, special thanks to a group of road workers who helped us locate one offender who attempted to evade arrest after cordons to restrict his movements were lifted.
Theft from vehicles, particularly at this time of year, is of significant concern to Police. All too often people leave valuable property in plain sight that is too tempting for an offender to ignore. It is a timely reminder, as people are travelling or completing their Christmas shopping to not leave anything of value unsecured in their vehicle. Take everything with you and look at other options for securing your vehicle including car alarms or immobilisers.
While we are doing our bit to get these people off the street and increase the risk to offenders, we need the public’s help to reduce the reward. Those who steal from cars are incredibly savvy at what they do and can be gone with your property in a matter of seconds.
Take that extra little time to secure your belongings so that those on Santa’s naughty list don’t target you this summer!
-ENDS-