Eight juveniles have been arrested in Western Australia’s north after a crime spree in Kununurra, with a video of an allegedly stolen vehicle chasing a police car posted online.
Police said they were investigating a string of incidents that occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the East Kimberley town, about 3,000 kilometres north of Perth.
They said two LandCruisers and a Toyota Prado were stolen and driven recklessly, including at police cars, forcing officers to stop the pursuit.
The vehicles were taken from a commercial premises on Poincettia Way and an apartment complex on Victoria Highway.
Multiple cars were graffitied when a business was broken into on Wednesday. (Supplied: Michael Elliott)
Police chased in stolen cars
Police said they were called to the intersection of Weaber Plain Road and Barringtonia Avenue at 2am, and activated their emergency lights and sirens, but the drivers of the stolen cars did not stop.
Instead, they continued driving dangerously and chased the police cars, a spokesperson said.
Police said they repeatedly tried to intercept the stolen cars in a pursuit that lasted about three hours, but were forced to abandon the exercise as the cars were driven erratically, endangering the public and officers.
They said the juveniles eventually exited the cars and tried to flee on foot, but were arrested shortly after.
Four juveniles have been charged in relation to the incident.
Two faced court today but did not apply for bail and were remanded in custody.
A further four have been referred to the state’s Juvenile Justice Team.
Police say they were chased by allegedly stolen vehicles on Wednesday morning. (Supplied: Facebook)
Recurring issue
Vehicle thefts have been a recurring issue in the East Kimberley, with videos of stolen cars and police pursuits posted on the internet, sometimes by the perpetrators themselves.
The latest widely-circulated video shows a police car with its lights and sirens on being followed at speed by a ute.
Rock barriers aiming to protect pedestrians and police from dangerous stolen vehicles had been erected at key intersections, but the shire had to remove them last year after a dispute with their insurer.
Police said the investigation into Wednesday’s string of incidents was ongoing and urged anyone with information to contact them.
A number of cars were damaged. (Supplied: Michael Elliott)
Owner thankful no-one hurt
Business owner Michael Elliott said his son had alerted him to a break-in at their premises in the industrial area in the early hours of Wednesday.
Michael Elliott says his business was broken into while he was in Perth. (Supplied: Michael Elliott)
“All the keys to the trucks had been stolen, two of my cars had been stolen and the street looked like a bit of a war zone because there was spray paint everywhere,” he said.
He said the four-wheel-drives taken were older models, used for driving in the Kimberley’s rough terrain, with a total value of about $25,000.
Mr Elliott said the cost of re-keying all of the trucks would be significant but he could not afford for duplicate sets of keys to be available.
The vehicles were damaged in the early hours of Wednesday. (Supplied: Michael Elliott)
said he was “very thankful” no-one was hurt.
“I’m really happy that everything that is damaged can be replaced and you live, you learn,” he said.