Good spotting leads to charges

Deb Hann

I was pleased to be able to attend a Pink Ribbon breakfast at Cambridge Community House last week.

Deb Hann

It preceded the monthly Cambridge Community of Social Services meeting and was raising funds for a great cause.  We are lucky to have a large number of social services organisations, offering our community a broad range of support – food assistance, advocacy, financial mentoring,  drug and alcohol counselling, family harm counselling and more. I encourage you to reach out if you need help.

In good news, earlier this week police were alerted to a vehicle displaying stolen plates at the Lakewood shopping area.  On arrival, the vehicle was located along with the driver. It’s true identity was shown to be a vehicle that was stolen in April from Hamilton. A search of the vehicle uncovered offensive weapons and ammunition. Investigations are ongoing.

Through that incident another male then came to police attention. He was found to be wanted for burglary and theft. He was arrested and will be appearing in court.   Criminals are regularly stealing number plates to hide their true identity. If your vehicle plate is stolen, please ensure it is reported to police and obtain different replacement plates.

In other news, I have been made aware of teenagers banging on random garage doors in the early evenings in the Norfolk downs area. While no damage is caused and the youth involved may see it as a harmless prank, such behaviour can be annoying and very unnerving to local residents, particularly our elderly. A CCTV camera is helpful in identifying those involved so that police can follow up.   One way to assist connection and confidence within your local neighbourhood and keep abreast of any local issues is to join your local Neighbourhood Support group.

Last Wednesday we again had a few cars stolen – or attempts made to steal them –  along with seven burglaries across the week. While these crimes often happen in the middle of the night, we should all be generally vigilant for suspicious behaviour and report it at the time if seen. Crime in Cambridge is committed by offenders from outside of town. Whether opportunists or serial offenders, they do not stop at one crime. If we all work together, we can help gather as much evidence as possible, early, to hold them to account.

Senior constable Deb Hann inside the police station. Photo: Aaron Radford.

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