Albany Police hunt for criminals targeting and stealing from vehicles, enquiries continue after two arrests

Albany Police are urging the community to lock their vehicles after a spike in thefts over recent weeks with the police chief warning there is “a number of people involved” and they will “take any opportunity”.

A multi departmental police effort is underway as traffic officers, detectives, forensics, and local officers work together to nab the thieves with covert and overt patrols around Albany’s suburbs.

Albany officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Carlos Correia said police have seen a “concerning” increase of thefts in various suburbs around Albany with thieves targeting vehicles at residential addresses, isolated beaches, and tourist hotspots.

“A lot of the offences that are happening — offenders are getting into open vehicles and stealing the items that they can see within the vehicle,” he said.

“Some of the items include purses, wallets, cameras, etcetera, anything of value, is being taken out of these cars.

“A lot of the offending is the offenders come along with a torch in the late evening, early morning, looking for those opportunities, using torches to look into vehicles, seeing what they can take and actually opening the unlocked doors and taking items without being seen.”

Sen. Sgt Correia said two people of have been arrested and charged with stealing in relation to the thieving spree but inquiries were ongoing.

He said that in footage provided to police they have seen people working alone and others working together.

“We’re talking more than just one person — there’s certainly a number of people involved,” he said.

Sen. Sgt Correia said thieves will seize opportunities to steal from vehicles while concealing their identity.

“It’s concerning for us, as it is for the community, and we want it to stop,” he said.

“Please lock up your vehicles and do not leave anything that’s visible there in your vehicle of any value whatsoever.

“Our criminals will take any opportunity to take any property that they can use or want.

“They will go around a lot of the time covered with face coverage, hats, dark clothing, and they will go looking for opportunities to get into vehicles.”

Sen. Sgt Correia urged people to report any thefts to police and upload any CCTV footage to Crime Stoppers.

“We’ve got a lot of calls from people who are seeing suspicious people in various streets — we want that to continue,” Sen. Sgt Correia said.

Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or crimestopperswa.com.au.