Orange Police Chief Inspector Peter Atkins says twin breakthroughs in relation to the city's spate of burned out, stolen cars should serve as a warning to those still brazen enough to commit such "serious offences".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Two 15-year-old boys have been arrested and bail refused as they await a February 14 date in children's court.
Police will allege the pair was involved in 10 offences across Orange, Bathurst, Blayney and Dubbo, including seven counts of aggravated break and enter, two counts of stealing a motor vehicle and another count of armed robbery.
Inspector Atkins said one of the teenage boys in custody is from Bourke while the other is from Orange.
At least nine cars across Orange have been stolen and set on fire since the start of 2022, while police believe another car found rolled and on fire on Huntley Road on Friday morning is also a stolen vehicle.
No other cars were found at the scene and no people were found when Central West Police District officers attended the crash. The NSW Rural Fire Service extinguished the blaze.
The two 15-year-old boys are so far only linked to one stolen car - found on January 30 - but Chief Inspector Atkins said police were still investigating.
"It's pleasing two young persons are being put before courts in relation to some very serious offences," he said.
The boy from Bourke caught the attention of police after two break-ins and a pursuit in the state's north last week.
At about 3.30am on January 25, three teens, allegedly armed with knives and glass bottles, forced their way into a unit in Bourke and threatened a 24-year-old man, stealing his mobile phone and car keys.
About an hour later, a 20-year-old woman woke to find a teenage boy, allegedly armed with a knife, in her home, also in Bourke. The boy allegedly took the woman's car keys and mobile phone before driving away her hatchback.
The woman, and her 18-month-old baby, were not injured.
A description of the car was circulated and police were involved in two pursuits around Bourke, which were terminated each time when they lost sight of the vehicle.
The hatchback was found two days later burnt-out behind a levee bank between the Kamilaroi and Mitchell highways at Bourke.
Chief Inspector Atkins said investigations into the Orange car thefts and fires were ongoing.
"There's a number of other suspects," he added.
The 15-year-olds will front court again on February 14.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.centralwesterndaily.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Catch up on our news headlines at Google News
HAVE YOUR SAY
- Send us a letter to the editor using the form below ...