General News
13 August, 2024
Busy weekend for police as stolen cars cause chaos in Isa suburbs
Two stolen cars were torched as crime spiked during rodeo week.
Mount Isa police received about double the usual number of calls for assistance following a spate of car theft, burglaries, assaults and domestic violence incidents across rodeo weekend.
Senior Sergeant Adrian Rieck said police received more than 470 calls between Wednesday and Monday, which resulted in 410 separate actions by officers.
He said more than 30 per cent of the calls were domestic violence related.
At about noon on Sunday, police were called to the southern end of Buchanan Park after a member of the public alerted officers to a group of young people acting suspiciously.
A bystander told North West Weekly that upon seeing the police, the young men immediately scampered into the bushland near the Mount Isa lookout.
Police vehicles surrounded the lookout vicinity as detectives, uniformed officers and a police dog moved up the rocky scrub searching for the young men, with at least one arrest made on Hilary Street.
During the weekend, one person was charged with evading police and another was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. Four Mount Isa men, aged 18, 19, 20 and 22, were arrested and charged with burglary and unlawful use of motor vehicle offences.
In a separate incident, a 13-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl, and a 16-year-old girl from Mount Isa were arrested and charged with burglary offences.
All are set to appear in the Mount Isa Magistrates Court.
All individuals arrested and charged were known to police.
Snr Sgt Rieck said there were 24 move-on directions issued as well as nine dangerous drug-related and 14 public nuisance offences being alleged.
Seven motorists were detected driving under the influence of alcohol – two of which were allegedly high range readings.
There were two drivers detected with drugs in their system and 10 charged with driving while unlicensed or disqualified.
Police will also allege there were at least eight suspected break-and-enter incidents committed across Mount Isa’s suburbs, including at caravan parks in the city, with at least six motor vehicles stolen.
It is understood that two vehicles belonging to tourists were allegedly stolen and later discovered burnt out.
Police were forced to deploy tyre deflation devices in order to stop a stolen vehicle during one incident.
Police confirmed a stolen vehicle crashed into a power pole on Sunday morning, which resulted in Ergon cutting electricity to 1679 homes in Mornington, Pioneer, Sunset, The Gap and Townview at 4.50am amid fears for public safety.
A spokesperson for Ergon said power was progressively restored to the affected areas and by 10:15am nearly 1500 properties had been reconnected.
“After replacing a damaged pole and other equipment, crews were able to safely restore power to the remaining customers just after 5pm,” the Ergon Energy spokesperson told North West Weekly.