Three teens will face court charged following an aggravated break, enter and steal in the state's northwest.
Operation Regional Mongoose is a high-visibility police operation to tackle serious property-related crime committed predominately by young offenders.
About 2.20am yesterday (Sunday 4 February 2024), three teens, allegedly armed with knives, forced entry into a home on Bowman Street, Westdale, before stealing keys and a Toyota Rav4.
Whilst allegedly attempting to leave in the stolen vehicle, the trio reversed out of the driveway, mounting the kerb before crashing into a parked car.
All three teenagers attempted to flee on foot before one of the teens was stopped by a nearby neighbour.
Officers attached to Oxley Police District attended and arrested the 14-year-old boy. Another two boys, aged 14 and 16, were arrested nearby a short time later.
All three boys were taken to Tamworth Police Station, where the two 14-year-olds were charged with armed with intent commit indictable offence, aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence-people there and steal motor vehicle.
The older boy was charged with aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence-armed, steal motor vehicle, and armed with intent commit indictable offence.
All three were refused bail and appeared at a children's court yesterday (Sunday 4 February 2024), where they were given conditional bail to reappear at the same court on Monday 19 February 2024).
Inquiries under Operation Regional Mongoose continue.
Anyone with information about Operation Regional Mongoose is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
