A teenage boy will face court today charged following an investigation into property and traffic offences in the Old Bar and Forster areas.
Earlier this month, officers attached to Manning/Great Lakes Police District began investigating several house break-in offences on the Mid Coast, which they believed are linked.
The incidents include four alleged break and enters where vehicles were allegedly stolen, one of which was allegedly involved in a police pursuit on Tuesday 18 March 2025.
Following extensive inquiries under Operation Soteria, a 14-year-old boy was arrested at Forster Police Station about 2.30am today (Thursday 20 March 2025).
There he was charged with eight offences:
- Take and drive conveyance without consent of owner (three counts),
- Aggravated break and enter dwelling etc in company steal (two counts),
- Break and enter house etc steal,
- Police pursuit - not stop - drive dangerously, and
- Be carried in conveyance taken without consent of owner.
He was refused bail to appear before a children's court today (Thursday 20 March 2025).
Since 1 January 2025, a total of six vehicles have been reported to police as stolen from the suburb of Old Bar and three from the suburb of Wallabi Point.
While several arrests have been made, police remain vigilant and continue deploying significant resources to the area to locate those responsible for further property-related offences.
Our message is clear – everyone in our community deserves to feel safe and our officers will be doing everything they can to apprehend those responsible, but we need everyone to play their part.
We know crime such as these are largely opportunistic so can usually be prevented by residents putting personal safety routines into practice.
The community is urged to ensure their cars and homes are secured and valuables are not on display.
Importantly, police urge residents to report any suspicious activity to local police or the Police Assistance Line on 131 444, and in an emergency, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
