Youths as young as 12 leave parts of Christchurch in lockdown in near-three hour crime rampage
SUPPLIED
A driver causes damage to Christchurch’s Heathcote Domain on Wednesday morning.
A school was put into lockdown, highways were closed and a sports field was ripped up by a car doing doughnuts during a crime spree allegedly involving culprits as young as 12.
The trio of youngsters are believed to have left a trail of havoc across Christchurch on Wednesday, from Heathcote and Sumner before driving in the wrong lane up the Northern Motorway to Belfast.
They were eventually stopped by police using road spikes on old Main North Road, almost three hours after their rampage began.
No one was injured in the incidents and two youths – one just 12 years old – and an 18-year-old were taken into police custody.
It comes as Stuff revealed an unprecedented crime wave in the city[1] in which youths compete to steal the most cars. Late last year an 8-year-old boy was driving a car involved in a near-fatal crash.
The latest incident began at 6.50am on Wednesday when a white Honda station wagon was spotted doing doughnuts at Heathcote Domain.
The motorist was seen driving over the grass and cricket pitch, leaving long tyre marks across the field.
KAI SCHWOERER/Stuff
Heathcote Domain was ripped up by a car doing doughnuts.
The driver fled, said Christchurch’s metro area commander, Superintendent Lane Todd, before continuing through the Lyttelton tunnel to Sumner, where they allegedly confronted a person and stole an item.
Police then received reports of “speeding, dangerous driving, and threatening behaviour” around Linwood and the Christchurch northern suburbs, where the vehicle eventually entered the Northern Motorway.
The car drove northwards on the southbound lane, forcing officers to block it off to prevent collisions, Todd said.
As the vehicle continued to Belfast, Belfast School went into lockdown “as a precaution” between 9.15am and 9.30am.
The car was finally stopped at Chaney’s off-ramp at 9.35am after police spiked its tyres on Old Main North Rd.
KAI SCHWOERER/Stuff
After damaging Heathcote Domain, the driver headed through Lyttelton tunnel and drove to Sumner.
The two youths will be referred to youth services, Todd said, while charges are being considered for the 18-year-old man, who is due to appear in Christchurch District Court in due course.
“We are committed to keeping our community safe and we will not tolerate dangerous behaviour on our roads, antisocial behaviour, or theft,” he said.
References
- ^ revealed an unprecedented crime wave in the city (www.thepress.co.nz)