A 21-year-old Narre Warren woman, who was wanted on outstanding warrants, was arrested by police on Friday 8 December.
The woman was located hiding in a roof cavity of a home in Narre Warren before she was removed and detained.
She had seven outstanding warrants, including alleged aggravated burglary, burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and evading police offences.
Investigation and response inspector Natalie Dollard said that “arrests like this prove that police will search high and low for recidivist offenders who continually break the law”.
She was a target of the Operation Trinity initiative, a Melbourne-wide campaign targeting aggravated home burglaries and associated car thefts.
After the arrest, the 21-year-old was charged with an additional 12 offences, including:
– Theft of a motor vehicle
– Fraudulently using registration labels/plates
– Attempted burglary
– Theft
– Handling stolen goods
– Possessing methyl-amphetamine
– Failing to answer bail (twice)
“Anyone who thinks they can hide from police is sorely mistaken, we have the intelligence and capability to locate you, and you cannot hide forever,” Inspector Dollard said.
Following extensive enquiries, officers from the Casey crime investigation unit, with assistance from the critical incident response team (CIRT), executed search warrants at several properties in the Casey Area, where they eventually found the suspect.
“Operation Trinity has resulted in more than 2000 arrests since March this year.
“Victoria police remains committed to targeting offenders who break into peoples ‘properties and make them feel unsafe in their own homes,” Inspector Dollard said.
Significant numbers of local police are currently working with the air wing, the dog squad and the public order response team throughout the night to prevent burglaries and car thefts from occurring.
The operation has led to 2231 arrests, including 502 concerning aggravated burglaries and car thefts since March 25.
As it stands, the 21-year-old suspect has been granted bail and is set to appear in court at a later date.
“Police will continue targeting those seeking to break into homes and steal cars.
“However we also implore the community to take simple home security measures, such as locking all doors and windows,” Inspector Dollard said.
The aggravated burglaries are predominantly driven by youth offenders targeting unlocked homes to steal car keys.
No confrontation is evident in more than 95 per cent of these incidents.
