Seven charged as specialist bikie and K9 cops swoop on notorious Parramatta crime hotspot
Police officers from the anti-bikie and dog squads were among a two-day police operation designed to disrupt drug and alcohol fuelled crime in a notorious Parramatta laneway. SEE PICTURES AND VIDEO
Police & Courts
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Specialist police from the anti-bikie, highway and dog squads have been called in to disrupt an alcohol and drug fuelled criminal hotspot in a tiny lane between Parramatta’s towering apartment complexes.
Police charged seven people and handed out more than 25 infringements for brawls, drink driving, bail breaches and knives in public in the “high visibility” operation on Friday and Saturday.
Footage released by NSW Police shows uniformed and plain-clothed officers rifling through the pockets of lined-up unidentified men, and dogs searching through stopped cars.
The first arrest came at 7pm on Friday when a 34-year-old man, wanted on a warrant for affray, was spotted and taken into custody. He was granted bail.
Minutes later a 31-year-old driver was stopped and breathalysed on Dirrabari Lane — she was sober but police allegedly found a knife on the dashboard.
A 49-year-old man, on the same Parramatta CBD lane, was allegedly found with a stolen driver’s licence and arrested, charged and released on bail.
In the same lane, just after midnight on Saturday, a 29-year-old man allegedly blew over the limit with a massive 0.165 and charged with high range drink driving.
A group of men clashed in Dirrabari Lane at 9pm that night before police arrived. They charged a 25-year-old man after he allegedly became aggressive and yelled when they intervened.
Less than an hour later a minibus dropped a group of people in Dirrabari and two men allegedly began fighting.
Police arrested a 27-year-old man and charged him with affray before he was released on bail.
“We have seen more incidents of anti-social behaviour in recent months and we want people to be able to feel safe and not have to worry about street-level crime in the neighbourhood,” Parramatta commander Superintendent Julie Boon said.
“The results demonstrate a significant disruption to local crime in the area and we will continue to work in collaboration with our specialist units in an effort to decrease anti-social behaviour and drug and alcohol-related violence.”
