WA town of Kununurra in crime crisis with 17 juvenile arrests in 72 hours over car thefts
In short:
The town of Kununurra in Western Australia's north is in crisis, with 17 juvenile arrests this week after a crime spree.
A trend of stolen cars being driven recklessly at police vehicles has put the Kimberley community and police officers at risk.
What's next?
The region's superintendent says the criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.
Police in Western Australia's north are at their wits' end, with juveniles as young as 10 arrested in the Kimberley town of Kununurra this week.
The last three days saw a trend of juveniles stealing cars and driving them recklessly, both to escape police pursuit and in an attempt to ram officer vehicles.
Police say the latest incident happened around 11:05pm on Thursday, when a white Toyota Prado was stolen from a property on Boobialla Way.
Officers located and pursued the car, making multiple attempts to stop it, only for the Prado to be driven recklessly towards police vehicles.
Police found the vehicle abandoned on Caltropis Court at about 2:50am on Friday and arrested nine juveniles, aged between 10 and 17.
That followed similar high-risk incidents in the early hours of Wednesday, where eight juveniles were arrested after a stolen car was driven recklessly towards a police vehicle.
The incident was videoed and posted to social media, leading to significant media attention.
'Actions will not be tolerated'
Kimberley Superintendent John Hutchison said the spate of stolen cars and dangerous pursuits had put the community at risk.
"This week's incidents show a blatant disregard for the safety of the community and the vehicle occupants," he said.
"Actions like these will not be tolerated and will result in arrest.
"Kununurra Police continue to act decisively to manage incidents and protect the community."
Superintendent Hutchison said a 'significant' number of extra officers had been deployed to Kununurra.
Superintendent John Hutchison says his officers have been put at risk in Kununurra this week. (ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)
He said no officers or members of the public had been injured.
Shire president highlights danger
Shire of Wyndham and East Kimberley president David Menzel said the latest crime spree was frustrating.
"It's disappointing — the return of something we haven't seen in quite a while," he said.
"Our major concerns are the children themselves, they shouldn't be racing around in stolen cars.
"The police have to deal with it and the community could suffer from the consequences."
Mr Menzel commended the police for the work they did and said the community needed to do better to support them.
"They are doing some dangerous jobs and we need make sure they are kept safe," he said.
David Menzel says children need to be engaged so they attend school. (ABC Kimberley: Giulia Bertoglio)
Mr Menzel said the community had put in a lot of time and effort to help "street-present children".
"We really want to see some actions that will put responsibility on the guardians and engage the kids so they are at school and not tearing around at night-time," he said.
Mr Menzel said the funding from the state government to introduce a night patrol program and safe space would help the situation.