1. Woden blue:
- ACT Policing is seeking witnesses to a fight between two groups of men in Phillip last night (August 21) that resulted in one male being transported to The Canberra Hospital for treatment.
The incident occurred outside the Corinna Street entrance to Woden Plaza about 10.30pm, with one of the males punched to the ground and kicked to the face. The 30-year-old sustained serious facial fractures and a loss of consciousness as a result, and is expected to undergo surgery.
Three juvenile males were taken in to custody by police following the incident, but were released in to the custody of their parents a short time later. They are continuing to assist police with their inquiries.
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2. Plate protection:
- ACT Policing and Westfield Woden have formed a community partnership to reduce registration plate theft through a free program to be conducted this Sunday (August 23).
Project Safe Plate will be held in the Neptune Street car park at Westfield Woden.
Between 11am and 3pm on Sunday, ACT motorists are invited to drive their cars into the ground floor of the car park and queue up to have the standard retaining screws for their vehicle registration plates replaced with tamper-proof screws which are much more difficult for thieves to remove.
The replacement of the screws will be conducted free of charge by ACT Policing officers and recruits at the location. The process takes a few minutes.
There will be giveaways and a sausage sizzle, Constable Kenny Koala will be on location to chat with children, Neighbourhood Watch and Safety House representatives to talk about household safety and security, together with a Goodyear technician to talk about tyre safety. The crashed car display taken to secondary schools and colleges through ACT Policing’s road safety awareness program Real Decisions, Real Consequences, will also be at the location.
Westfield Woden is covering the cost of supplying the “one-way” tamper-proof fasteners and is helping to organise the event.
South District Superintendent Lesa Gale said that around 1300 registration plates are reported as stolen in the ACT each year, and rise as petrol prices increase.
“Registration plates are stolen by offenders as a precursor to other criminal activities, predominantly drive-offs from service stations and other crimes such as burglaries and the conveying of stolen property,” Supt Gale said.
“Fitting these special fasteners makes your registration plates less of a potential target for thieves and makes it harder for offenders to avoid police detection using stolen plates.”
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3. Lyneham burg:
- ACT Policing has arrested a 29-year-old male of no fixed abode, after a burglary in Lyneham yesterday.
Police were called to a residence in Goodwin Street, Lyneham after receiving reports of a suspicious male in the backyard.
A short time later, the male was seen to exit another residence on Goodwin Street in possession of stolen property.
Once again, police commend the awareness and diligence of the members of the public who contacted them to report the suspicious activity, ultimately leading to the arrest.
The man is expected to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court today on charges relating to burglary and theft.
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4. Griffith burg:
- ACT Policing has arrested two people this morning after a burglary in process at a residence in Griffith.
Police were called to the location about 9.45am after neighbours noticed a male breaking in to the house. Officers arrived within three minutes of the call, arresting a 32-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman minutes later.
Police have commended the awareness and diligence of the members of the public who contacted them to report the suspicious activity, ultimately leading to the arrests.
The man is expected to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court this afternoon charged with burglary and theft, whilst the female will appear at a later date to face the same charges.
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5. RAPID rolls on:
- ACT Policing’s mobile number plate recognition software, also known as RAPID, has led to the detection of 320 traffic offenders since July 17, serving as a warning to Canberra motorists who think they won’t be caught.
The technology, currently being used by a small team, enabled police to identify 181 unregistered drivers, 67 unlicensed drivers, 59 suspended drivers and 13 disqualified drivers in the month long period.
Superintendent in charge of Traffic Operations Mark Colbran says by the end of this year, all Traffic Operations vehicles will contain the technology, which will have a significant impact on road safety in the ACT.
“Nearly 22% of all collisions resulting in injury and 38% of all fatal collisions in the ACT involve an unregistered car or a driver who is not authorised to drive, so without doubt, getting these people off the roads is saving lives,” Supt Colbran said.
“In the past, drivers have told us that they take the chance of driving when they shouldn’t because they believe that if they don’t speed, police will not pull them over and they will remain undetected,” he said.
“The message should now be clear; RAPID takes that human element out of detecting people who do not have a right to drive on the streets of Canberra. This program will continue, across all Canberra suburbs, and as the entire Traffic Operations fleet becomes fitted-out with RAPID technology there will be no safe place in Canberra for unregistered cars and unlicensed drivers to avoid being caught.”
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6. Smack in Gungas:
- A 25-year-old man will appear in the ACT Magistrates Court this morning (August 19) after police seized about 50 grams of a powder substance suspected to be heroin from his home yesterday.
Officers from the Territory Investigations Group located the drugs, worth an estimated $20,000, after executing a search warrant on the Ngunnawal residence about 11.30am. Police also seized scales and packaging.
The man has been charged with Trafficking in a Controlled Substance.
- A 19-year-old man will appear in the ACT Magistrates Court on an aggravated robbery charge this morning (August 19) after police executed a search warrant on his Stirling residence yesterday.
Police will allege that the man threatened staff members at the Weston Club with a firearm in the early hours of May 21, forcing them to open a safe and restraining them in an upstairs office before making off with a large amount of cash.
Officers from the Territory Investigations Group (TIG) arrested the man yesterday morning after a protracted investigation under Operation Tondo led to the execution of the search warrant. Items seized during the search included a firearm, a balaclava and an amount of cash.
Acting Superintendent of TIG Dave Harrison said Operation Tondo is an on-going investigation into a series of robberies that have occurred at clubs across Canberra over the past few months, and has to date resulted in a number of alleged offenders being brought before the courts.
“On the back of these good results, Detectives attached to Operation Tondo have recently expanded the scope of their investigations to include cold cases such as the shooting and robbery of a security guard outside the Mawson Club in May 2004, which remains a priority investigation for the taskforce,” a/Supt Harrison said.
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- ACT Policing is seeking witnesses to four cases of property damage and burglary involving four restaurants in Curtin, Chifley and Red Hill, and all of which occurred in less than 90 minutes late last night (Monday, August 17).
Between 10.25pm and 11.55pm yesterday, it was reported to police that the four restaurants – the Delissio in Theodore St, Curtin; the Bite To Eat in Chifley Place, Chifley; the Red Hill Look at the Red Hill lookout and; the Onred, also at the Red Hill lookout – had all been forcibly entered.
In each case, front windows were broken to gain entry and police believe the same offenders were involved in all four burglaries.
No loss of cash was reported at any of the premises, although a small quantity of liquor was stolen from one restaurant and at another, an Mp3 player.
Police are seeking any witnesses who may have seen or heard any suspicious activity or persons in the immediate area around the restaurants last night between 10.20pm and midnight. If you have any information which could assist the investigation, police would urge that you contact Crime Stoppers.
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If you can help police contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the website at www.act.crimestoppers.com.au.