Police sting leads to arrest of man who allegedly tried to break into car on Ocean Ave in Newport
As part of a police operation to target a spate of northern beaches car break-ins, a suspected thief was arrested in Newport when he allegedly opened the door of an unmarked police car and was subsequently arrested.
A suspected thief looking for valuables was nabbed when he opened the door of an unmarked police car and was grabbed on the arm by a plain clothes officer sitting in the front seat.
The officer was a member of the Northern Beaches Police Proactive Crime Team on a two-night operation targeting a spate of overnight car break-ins in streets around Avalon, Newport and Palm Beach.
The police car, containing two officers, was parked on Ocean Ave, Newport, near Coles Pde, at 11pm on Monday when police allege a 19-year-old local man opened the unlocked door.
Police are mounting a series of undercover surveillance operations to tackle a recent spike in reports of thieves taking items such as laptop computers, mobile phones, wallets, cash, sunglasses and other property from cars parked on the street or in private driveways.
In one weekend alone, 11 cars parked at the northern end of the peninsula were targeted by thieves, including five at Avalon, four at Newport and two at Clareville.
Northern Beaches Crime Manager Mick Boutouridis said the car break-ins are being committed by teenagers and young adults.
Chief Inspector Boutouridis said most of the thefts occurred from unlocked vehicles. He said police would allege the 19-year-old was caught in the act.
“Police have been working hard to collate and process information from the public, along with evidence gathered by police, to catch these thieves,” he said.
“As a result we mounted a two-night operation, with several unmarked police cars parked at different locations that had been targeted by thieves.
“On Monday, officers were sitting in a car in Newport when a man approached the vehicle. He actually opened the car door and, to his surprise, there were two officers inside.
“The man put his arm into the car and a sergeant grabbed him.”
The man, charged with enter a vehicle without the owners consent and possession of a prohibited drug, will appear at Manly Local Court on July 31.
Insp. Boutouridis said plain clothes police would continue to organise random overnight operations right across the Northern Beaches Command.
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“We will continue these operations sporadically,” Insp. Boutouridis said.
“The message to car owners is to lock their cars, and don’t make it easy for the thieves.”
News of the surveillance operations comes as police received more reports of break-ins this week.
At Bayview, two cars parked and locked on Beaumont Ave were targeted.
Property was taken from a Holden Rodeo parked and locked on Cooinda Pl, Bilgola Plateau.
At Dee Why, thieves entered an unlocked Mazda 2 outside a unit block on Pacific Pde.
An unlocked Mazda parked on Cecil Rd, Newport had $20 taken from it.
In nearby Yachtsmans Paradise $10 was taken from a VW Golf that had been locked.
A wallet and contents were stolen from a Jeep Cherokee parked in Waterview St, Mona Vale.
Latest crime figures show that there were 758 thefts from motor vehicles on the northern beaches in the 12 months to March 2019 — down from 917 on the previous 12 months.
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