A 31-year-old man has been charged following a rural crime investigation into the alleged theft and on-sale of wool in the Monaro region.
In June 2019 a wool farmer from Bungarby reported the theft of wool from his shearing shed.
An investigation, led by Rural Crime Investigators from Monaro Police District, identified a 31-year-old Cooma man as a person of interest.
Shortly after 11am yesterday (Thursday 8 August 2019), police arrested the man at a property near Berridale.
Police will allege the man has been stealing and on-selling wool from properties around the Cooma-Monaro region for the past 18 months.
Police will also allege that the total value of the wool, subject to this investigation, is worth approximately $7,000.
The man was taken to Cooma Police Station, where he was charged with 12 counts of receive/dispose of stolen property and two counts of larceny.
He was granted conditional bail to appear before Cooma Local Court on Wednesday 9 October 2019.
State Rural Crime Coordinator, Detective Inspector Cameron Whiteside from said: "The New South Wales Police Force are committed to disrupting criminal activity that impacts on rural and regional communities. The Rural Crime Prevention Team can't do this alone and we thank the good people in our communities helping us prevent, respond and disrupt those that commit rural crimes."
Rural Crime Investigators at Cooma Police Station - Detective Senior Constables Archie French (0427 993 314) and Ned Doubleday (0429 596 435) - would like to speak with anyone that suspects they have had wool stolen from the Cooma, Bungarby, Nimmitabel and the surrounding districts.
Anyone with information about incidents of stock theft is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence.
