Police are urging the public to be vigilant as they crackdown on a thefts in the Kingsford area this month, NSW Police say.
Between Tuesday 5 April 2016 and Sunday 17 April 2016, officers attached to Eastern Beaches Local Area Command received reports of street robberies in the Kingsford/Matraville area.
In the first incident, a 23-year-old man was allegedly threatened by an unknown male armed with a knife on Beauchamp Road, Matraville, about 11.30pm on Wednesday 13 April 2016.
It will be alleged the armed man demanded the 23-year-old’s possessions, before he fled the scene taking credit cards, a mobile phone, a wallet and cash.
It will further be alleged bank cards were later fraudulently used following the incident.
Inquiries led police from Eastern Beaches LAC to arrest a 48-year-old woman at a home on Beauchamp Road, Matraville.
She was taken to Maroubra Police Station where she was charged with receiving stolen property and dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception; she was granted conditional bail, to appear at Waverly Local Court on Wednesday 18 May 2016.
In a second incident, officers executed a search warrant at a unit on Kennedy Street, Kingsford, on Monday 18 April 2016, where mobile phones and clothing were seized for forensic examination.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested and taken to Maroubra Police Station, where he was charged with three counts of robbery in company, and assault with intent to rob. He was refused bail and will appear in a children’s court on Tuesday 31 May 2016.
In a third, unrelated, incident, on Monday 18 April 2016, a 29-year-old woman was walking along Anzac Parade, Maroubra, when she was allegedly struck from behind on the head, knocking her to the ground.
Two unknown people took the woman’s backpack and fled the scene. It is further alleged the woman’s bank cards were fraudulently used later that day.
Following inquiries by police, about 6.30pm on Tuesday 19 April, officers executed a search warrant at a unit on Anzac Parade, Maroubra, where a backpack and identity and bank cards alleged to have been stolen were seized.
A 24-year-old woman was arrested a short time later and taken to Maroubra Police Station; where she was charged with nine counts of dishonestly obtain property by deception and two counts of receiving stolen property.
She was granted conditional bail, to appear at Waverley Local Court on Wednesday 4 May 2016.
Acting Eastern Beaches Local Area Commander, Detective Acting Superintendent Leanne McCusker, said while the incidents all occurred within a few days, the incidents were unrelated.
“We believe each person was randomly targeted for these street robberies, and since these swift arrests no further offences have been committed.
“Investigations are on-going as Eastern Beaches Police continue to patrol Kingsford and the surrounding area,” Det A/Supt McCusker said.
