Police charge five juvenile males, aged between 13 and 17, with break-ins, robberies across Geraldton

Five teenage boys as young as 13 are accused of a series of robberies in home across Geraldton, one of which allegedly involved an elderly man and woman being threatened with a knife and replica firearm. Police allege the juvenile offenders, two aged 13, one 16 and two 17, broke into six homes in Drummond Cove, Karloo, Beresford, Spalding, Cape Burney and Narngulu between Thursday and Sunday. It is alleged in the Cape Burney that the occupants of a home on Brand Highway — a 68-year-old woman and 72-year-old man — were threatened with a knife and a replica firearm during the break-in about 3.30am on Sunday. Geraldton Children’s Court was told on Monday that one of the juveniles allegedly threatened to kill the 72-year-old man. According to police, another incident, on Thursday, March 27, about 11.20pm, the juveniles forced entry into a house in Bluff Point, stealing cash and car keys and shining flashlights into the victim’s face, waking them, before stealing their Subaru hatchback. Police arrested four juveniles at an address in Spalding on Sunday morning. The fifth fifth juvenile was arrested on Monday morning. One of his charges is assault occasioning bodily harm. Police say jewellery, cash, a dirt bike, quad bike and two cars were stolen. The five boys have been charged with a total of 65 offences, including aggravated armed robbery, aggravated home burglary, stealing a motor vehicle and stealing. At least two of the juveniles were remanded in custody after appearing in court. Outside court on Monday, Geraldton police acting officer in charge Sgt Mandy Johnson called for vigilance in the community. “We had six burglaries and stolen motor vehicles between Saturday and Sunday, five of those vehicles have been recovered, which is great work and those offences resulted in some 53 charges so far being assigned,” she said. “We currently have five juvenile offenders in custody aged between 13 and 17 years old. So a great result for the community. However, it sort of highlights the fact that we really need to have a look at the lack of parental control and guidance that we have surrounding our juveniles. “We have to know where our kids are. As parents, we need to know better. We need to know where they are and we need to know what they’re doing. It’s something that we need to improve on and try and get a handle on.” Sgt Johnson said Geraldton police were “doing everything we possibly can to counteract some of these activities.” “It is additionally disappointing that juveniles are involved, and we handle these situations with as much care as we can, given the risks associated around juvenile offending, there is a specific operation ongoing, and additional resources have been obtained from colleagues regionally,” she said. “The community will continue to see a proactive, robust response to this pattern of offending, which I’m confident will not continue.” Sgt Johnson said the main message was to “be security conscious.” “Lock your doors, lock your windows, don’t have your valuables in the car, don’t keep cash in the car or readily available and report anything suspicious,” she said. “The main thing we want to get across is leave the action to the police.”