1 month ago
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A dedicated police operation tackling young people stealing luxury and performance cars has laid thousands of charges since it started in 2021.
Strike Force Sweetenham was set up in 2021 to target young people who were stealing high-performance cars, with NSW Police revealing they’ve laid 4754 charges since then.
According to police, luxury vehicles, such as Land Rovers, Audis, and Porsches, are being stolen and then used to commit other crimes.
The most common crimes include armed robberies, ram raids, disposing of stolen motor vehicles, fraud, and car jackings.
The latest case tackled by the specialised police operation involved three men – two aged 18 and one 19 – charged in connection with multiple alleged break-ins across Sydney during the past three months.
All three were refused bail and faced a Manly court on Tuesday, 26 November.
The incidents on 11 August and 20 September involved vehicles allegedly being stolen from homes in Eastwood and Heathcote during break-ins.
In the Eastwood case, a silver sedan was allegedly taken, while in Heathcote a motorbike was stolen before the alleged thieves drove off in a hatchback.
The silver sedan was later located in an underground car park with smoke emitting from it following a police pursuit – which had to be called off for safety reasons.
When the vehicle was searched, police located and seized two jerry cans, bottles of bleach and stolen number plates, while officers also found the men were carrying knives.
A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
