Queensland police have been kept busy over the weekend dealing with juvenile crime across the Gold Coast and Brisbane.
Key points:
- Seven teenagers have been arrested after two separate vehicle thefts on the Gold Coast at the weekend
- Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon said the offending was “unsophisticatedly coordinated”
- A police officer suffered a suspected broken nose after he was allegedly punched by a 13-year-old girl
One of the incidents involved six teenagers who allegedly stole a Land Rover and a BMW from a home at Carrara and a Range Rover from Southport.
Gold Coast Chief Superintendent Craig Hanlon said the BMW was tracked to Pimpama where the tires were deflated by road spikes.
“The offenders then jumped into the other stolen vehicle and Polair [police helicopter] tracked it to Mount Gravatt and Carindale in Brisbane,” he said.
“We deployed tire deflation devices again; the vehicle was disabled.”
A dog squad officer tracked the teenagers who were found hiding in nearby residences.
“They’re unsophisticatedly coordinated,” Chief Superintendent Hanlon said.
“What they do is drive one [vehicle] and when it gets disabled they jump into another one.”
Two 15-year-old Pimpama boys, a 15-year-old Runaway Bay boy, a 17-year-old Marsden boy, a 15-year-old Peranga boy, and a 14-year-old Oxenford boy have been charged with one count each of burglary and two counts each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
Five of the juveniles will appear at Brisbane Children’s Court today while the sixth teenager will appear at the Brisbane Children’s Court on August 12.
Teenage girl arrested
In a separate incident on Saturday, Gold Coast police said a Lexus was stolen in Surfers Paradise and was tracked to a home in Miami where a 15-year-old girl was arrested while a 14-year-old girl remains outstanding.
Chief Superintendent Hanlon said the number of juveniles committing repeat offenses was increasing.
“What we are seeing is the number of juvenile offenders is decreasing, but we talk about that 10 per cent. They’re the 10 per cent that commits almost 50 per cent of the crime,” he said.
“We focus on that 10 per cent and they target vulnerable kids, who are disengaged with family, and bring them into their web and they will then commit offenses with them.
“We’ve got to make sure that the main offenders may need to be treated differently to those people who are fringe dwellers that are not doing the main offending.”
Officer punched
Chief Superintendent Hanlon said one of his officers was recovering in hospital with a suspected broken nose after he was allegedly punched by a 13-year-old girl in Surfers Paradise overnight.
“They weren’t committing offenses. We were just concerned about their wellbeing,” he said.
“For some unknown reason, one of the 13-year-olds has punched the officer.
“He’s been transported to Pindara Hospital and she’s been charged with serious assault of a police officer.”
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