Woman in Alice Springs hospital after alleged sexual assault incident

A man has been charged with sexual and domestic violence offences after his partner was admitted to hospital.

A man is facing multiple charges after a domestic and sexual violence incident that left his partner in hospital.

An 18-year-old man was arrested after allegedly assaulting his 18-year-old female partner repeatedly.

It is alleged the man was armed with a blunt weapon when he sexually assaulted the woman at an Alice Springs Town Camp on Monday.

The woman was taken to the Alice Springs Hospital with multiple cuts and bruises.

Police have since charged the man with two counts of aggravated assault, breaching a domestic violence order, and one count each of sexual intercourse without consent, recklessly endangering causing harm and breaching bail.

“This was a repeated, cowardly attack on a vulnerable victim,” Detective Sergeant David Munro said.

“Investigations are ongoing as the victim recovers in hospital.”

CBD evacuation during ‘extremely dangerous’ vehicle ramming chaos

Police issued a public warning overnight urging people to avoid the Alice Springs CBD due to stolen vehicles driving “extremely dangerously”.

The situation also left officers with no choice but to pull out their resources and regroup after targeted ramming attempts on marked police cars.

It marked the first police evacuation of the town centre in memory, Southern Watch Commander Allan Millner said.

Commander Millner said the vehicle, a white Toyota Prado, was stolen from the ABC Radio building on Gap Road on Tuesday night.

“At 10.40pm there was a report of an intruder on premises,” Commander Millner said.

“Two units attended straight away but the intruder had taken off.

“We know they were youth due to CCTV.

“We believe they entered through an unsecured or unlocked door, but we’re not sure if that was unlocked by the youth.

“An unknown quantity of electrical items was also stolen, we think phones.”

Commander Millner said the Prado then went straight into the CBD.

“It was driving dangerously, and I mean really dangerously – driving on footpaths, showing off in front of mates,” Commander Millner said.

“It also attempted to ram a number of police vehicles which only narrowly missed our members and vehicles.

“We had to pull out all of our resources and regroup back at the station.

“We’ve never done that before,” Southern Watch Commander

”Because they were aiming solely at us and there were spectators around, it was an extremely dangerous situation.”

Commander Millner said sometime before 3.30am, two Toyota Hiluxs were also stolen in a commercial break-in on Kennett Court, Ciccone.

Those vehicles then linked up with the Prado in the CBD, resulting in further mayhem.

Police returned to set up road spikes, which were successful in slowing the Prado.

“It takes a while for those tyre deflations to work and they ended up driving the Prado around on its rims,” Commander Millner said.

When the vehicle came to a stop police were able to arrest five youths, all aged between 11 and 15.

The two Hilux utes were abandoned and the alleged offenders involved with those remain outstanding.

Two men arrested for allegedly possessing child abuse material

NT Police have arrested two Territorians after allegedly finding them in the possession of child sex material.

Detectives from the NT Join Anti-Child Exploitation Team and the Alice Springs Criminal Investigation Branch executed a warrant to search the home of a 25-year-old on Wednesday.

Once at the house, in the Alice Springs suburb of Gillen, police uncovered the man’s phone which allegedly contained child abuse material.

He was arrested on site and has since been charged with two counts of possessing or controlling child abuse material and accessing child abuse material via a carriage service.

He was also charged with planning to engage in sexual activity with a person under 16, two counts of using a carriage service to groom a child under 16 and two counts of failing to comply with reporting conditions.

Police carried out another, unrelated search warrant on a residence in Eastside on Thursday.

There police arrested a 17-year-old after child abuse material was found on his electronic devices.

He was charged with three counts of accessing child abuse material via carriage service.

He was bailed to appear in court on January 16.

Detective Sergeant Mark Cronin said the arrests proved police would catch up with anyone committing child abuse offences.

“These arrests are the result of the collaborative work between law enforcement agencies to protect children from abuse,” Sergeant Cronin said.

“Anyone committing these offences needs to be aware that eventually, we will catch up with you.

“The Northern Territory JACET will continue to work with our national and international partners to ensure the safety of all children, no matter where the offenders are located.”’

AFP spokesman Superintendent Mal Bickford stated police were committed to protecting the most vulnerable people in the community.

“Anyone who views this type of material is committing a crime,” Superintendent Bickford said.

“Our message to online offenders is that if you procure, access and transmit child abuse material, you will be found and prosecuted.”

Members of the public with any information about people involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or https://crimestoppers.com.au/

Video footage shows police dog stopping alleged teen joy-rider

Police have released body-worn camera footage of the arrest of an 18-year-old man after an alleged joy ride in a stolen car overnight.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Robert Kent said a white Kia Cerato was stolen from a residence in Braitling about 11pm and seen driving dangerously throughout Alice Springs.

He said officers deployed a tyre deflation device on the Stuart Highway and the vehicle came to a stop on Winnecke Ave in Eastside after a “short pursuit”.

Two teenagers then allegedly fled the scene, with a 15-year-old boy “subdued” by a police patrol dog and arrested.

Sergeant Kent said the 18-year-old was seen “attempting to flee” but surrendered upon hearing one of the dogs barking and was “arrested without incident”.

“This arrest was the result of substantial efforts from the Southern Dog Operations Unit, Strike Force Viper, Drone Unit and general duties,” he said.

It comes after six other vehicles were also allegedly stolen overnight, and Sergeant Kent appealed for anyone with any information to come forward.

“Police are urging anyone who witnessed these incidents, particularly if you have dashcam footage, to make contact on 131 444,” he said.

“You can also anonymously report through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”

Body-worn camera footage of an NT Police dog arresting an 18-year-old man who allegedly fled after abandoning a stolen car. Picture: NT Police

The 18-year-old was charged with property and vehicle offences and was remanded to face court on Monday, while the 15-year-old was bailed to appear at a later date.

Police had spent the night tracking the swag of stolen vehicles, which officers say had youths hanging out the back of the ute trays while other minors were at the wheel.

The six stolen vehicles were also seen driving on footpaths and doing burnouts on the council lawns, while one crashed into a tree.

Southern Watch Commander Allan Milner said the series of events started when the Drug and Alcohol Services Australia (DASA) building was unlawfully entered about 11pm Sunday.

“It looks like a group had smashed their way in there and stole a security box full of office and vehicle keys,” Commander Millner said.

“One of the five vehicles, a Toyota HiLux, was then used to ram through the property’s fairly solid electronic gate to allow the other vehicles to follow.

“As soon as they got out and about they started picking up mates.

“A stolen Holden Barina then linked up with the convoy.

“They’ve gone on joy rides basically all night, driving dangerously, speeding through the CBD and suburbs.”

“They were also driving on footpaths and doing burnouts on the council lawns.”

The vehicles were being tracked from a distance by police.

“We could only maintain surveillance because there were kids in the rear trays,” Commander Millner said.

“We don’t pursue youth drivers as we don’t want to cause any alarm – there’s nothing worse than a crash.”

Commander Millner said the six vehicles, including one with a trailer attached, were all eventually found dumped in various locations.

One of the vehicles was found after it crashed into a tree.

“They were extremely lucky to walk away from that crash, the airbags had been deployed,” Commander Millner said.

“If they were not wearing a seatbelt it may have resulted in a serious injury.”

The last vehicle was recovered by police at 5.50am on Monday

As well as the Toyota HiLux and Holden Barina, a second HiLux, two Mitsubishi Outlanders and a Suzuki Baleno were among the fleet.

Police said the Central Desert Regional Council building was also unlawfully entered overnight.

Commander Millner said a security alarm was activated at 10.43pm after five to six people smashed through a front door.

“By the time a security guard got there and got inside, the group had gone,” Commander Millner said.

It comes after a similarly dramatic scene in which dogs, tyre spikes and a drone were used to arrest an alleged car thief in the Red Centre on Saturday night.

Strike Force Viper are currently investigating and have several persons of interest.

Anyone who saw the vehicles or recognised anyone involved is urged to contact police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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