Boy, girl to face Children’s Court after South Toowoomba arrest

A boy and girl spent the day driving around Toowoomba in a stolen car unaware they were being watched from above.

A 16-year-old boy and girl will be brought before the Children’s Court today after they were arrested following a protracted police operation in Toowoomba on Tuesday.

Detective Senior Sergeant Paul McCusker said officers from the Tactical Crime Squad, the Property Crime Unit, Polair and general duties tracked the couple as they drove around the city in a Mazda CX5 stolen from a Cranley home on Monday night.

“The vehicle was intercepted as it entered a unit block on Hume Street,” he said.

“We don’t believe anyone at the unit was connected with the offenders.”

The boy ran from the vehicle but was intercepted on foot, while the girl was arrested near the unit block.

Sgt McCusker praised the efforts of the officers involved.

“We will continue to use whatever resources are available to us to apprehend offenders and put them before the courts,” he said.

Police are searching for several stolen vehicles that have been active in the Darling Downs over the past few days.

They include a grey Audi Q5 wagon (658ZKT) that was stolen from the Milne Bay Aquatic Centre carpark after the keys were left in the vehicle.

“It was sighted overnight evading police and is still active in the community,” Sgt McCusker said.

A white Toyota Kluger stolen from a Top Camp home at the weekend is also active and has been linked to several burglaries in Toowoomba.

“The vehicle may have been dumped or parked in a street, and if a member of the public observes it we would ask that they contact police,” Sgt McCusker said.

Sgt McCusker thanked the public for taking the time to secure their home and vehicles in recent weeks and said that had reduced the number of soft targets offenders could take advantage of.

He also recommended residents installed CCTV cameras.

“We have had a great response from the public with respect to CCTV footage,” Sgt McCusker said

“It helps us solve a great deal of property crime and is a great tool to link crimes, link cars to crimes and offenders to crime.

“Even if the offenders’ faces are covered, we can still link them to crimes.”

Anyone with information for the police should phone Policelink on 131 444.