BAD parenting and an influx of criminals from Western NSW are being blamed for Orange’s ongoing crime spate which resulted in several arrests in the early hours of yesterday morning.
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At 2am yesterday six juveniles stole a white Toyota in Lords Place and drove it to Casuarina Drive.
The male youths, aged between 14 and 18, then broke into a family home stealing a range of goods including a PlayStation, mobile phones, purse and a camera which were valued in excess of $1000.
The sleeping family woke after hearing a suspicious noise and alerted the police.
Two of the youths, who were charged with aggravated enter and steal, and car theft and joy-riding, are due to appear in Orange Court today.
Further investigations in the early hours of the same morning led police to the 7am arrest of an 18-year old man on a number of charges including seven counts of break and enter, car theft and a breach of bail.
He was also due to appear in court yesterday afternoon.
According to Canobolas Local Area Command chief Superintendent Mark Szalajko despite the fact that the value of the stolen goods was not excessive, the family concerned will feel the impact of the crime for a long time to come.
“We know that this event will have an extraordinary impact on the people involved,” he said.
While Supt Szalajko said that crime in Orange was “trending down”, there were still a number of complex issues at play including the fact that many of the crimes are being committed by people moving to Orange from outlying towns and cities.
While he declined to name the locations where the criminals were coming from, he confirmed they were within the western NSW area.
According to Supt Szalajko “bad parenting” was also contributing to the prevalence of juvenile crime.
“Poor parenting means that the kids are not being taught about responsibility,” he said.
Supt Szalajko said that Orange police were working on a number of crime-fighting initiatives which will be announced in the coming weeks.