4 hours ago
3
Dramatic vision has emerged of a police car being chased by an allegedly stolen four-wheel-drive in Kununurra following a crime spree in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Police in the northern Kimberley town had responded to several reports of anti-social behaviour in the area, including alleged burglaries and thefts of two Toyota Landcruisers and a Toyota Prado.
About 2am on Wednesday, officers came to an intersection following reports of two cars driving “recklessly and dangerously”, a WA Police spokesman said.
“Police attended the area, and activated their emergency lights and sirens, however it will be alleged, the drivers failed to stop,” he said.
“Between 2am and 5am, numerous attempts were made to intercept all three vehicles throughout the area.
Loading
“These attempts were terminated due to public safety concerns and the alleged erratic manner of driving, including following police vehicles.”
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch told Radio 6PR the chase was part of a police strategy to draw the alleged offenders away from populated areas.
“So when you see footage of a car behind a police car, often people go, ‘Is that the police running away?’” he said.
“We do have a strategy in those circumstances, we call that situation an ‘aggravated vehicle aggression’ … but the idea is to get people away from populous areas and then use police capability and tactics to disable the vehicle.
“And we’ve put a lot of effort into this since about 2022 to make sure we do it as safe as possible in what is a very high-risk environment.”
Blanch said police got “extremely frustrated” when they arrested the same young people “over and over again”.
“But that is our job, we will always be out there keeping our community safe and arresting people when they commit crimes,” he said.
“But I think as a community we should all be concerned when 10-year-olds are in stolen cars, late at night, driving around towns, and may have been arrested for the 30th or 40th time.
“I think that speaks to a much broader problem, particularly around homes, parenting and those types of issues, and substance abuse particularly, and domestic violence in homes and why your kid’s out at night.
Loading
“But my assurance as the police commissioner is; my police officers have a plan, we’ve arrested these offenders, and we’ve done it as safe as possible, and people are not injured as a result of the way we’ve gone and done our plan.”
The cars were later abandoned and eight juveniles fled on foot but were “quickly located and apprehended by police”, the WA Police spokesman said.
Four of the children were referred to the juvenile justice team, while another four have been charged with several offences and will appear before the courts at a later date.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
