Two teenagers and their 11-year-old friend spent their Sunday on an almost 190km crime spree up and down the Otago coast, stealing seven cars and evading police spikes, police say.
The trio stole cars and dumped them before eventually taking one on a joyride from Dunedin to Palmerston where they repeatedly dodged police road spikes, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said.
The alleged crime spree started when a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old both made their way from the Christchurch area to Oamaru earlier in the weekend and met their 11-year-old associate.
Once arrested, the 16-year-old passed himself off as a 12-year-old and made it all the way back to Rolleston before his ruse was uncovered and he was charged.
At 9.15am on Sunday, police were notified of a Subaru being stolen from an Oamaru address — allegedly by the three youths — and which was later found dumped in Pine Hill, Dunedin.
Over the course of Sunday, the trio allegedly stole three further cars from Pine Hill, one from Opoho, another from Andersons Bay, and they attempted to steal another but failed to do so.
They also conducted a drive-off from an Andersons Bay Rd petrol station where they stole $150 worth of petrol.
At about 1.20pm on Sunday, the three youths stole a Toyota Mark X from Gladstone Rd, Dalmore, and took it joyriding north on State Highway 1.
The vehicle was spotted by officers on patrol, who signalled for the driver to pull over.
However, the three youths took off down Coast Rd, on the way to Karitane.
The trio were reaching speeds between 130kmh and 150kmh, driving and overtaking dangerously.
Police did not pursue the vehicle due to the manner of driving, but attempted to set up road spikes at different points.
At about 1.30pm, police attempted to stop the vehicle using road spikes near the Karitane township, but the teenagers evaded police and the spikes and headed north again on State Highway 1.
The trio went through Palmerston and police again attempted to spike the vehicle at Shag Point.
The teenagers spotted police and spikes, turned around and headed back to Palmerston, where more road spikes had been set up.
They again evaded spikes and headed up back roads around the Palmerston township.
The vehicle was later found crashed in the area.
A member of the public eventually located the three, picked them up, and dropped them off in Palmerston where they were arrested by police.
The 16-year-old — allegedly the driver — gave police false details and claimed he was a 12-year-old.
‘‘We didn’t initially charge him because you can’t charge those under 14 unless it’s really serious offending, so we have dealt with him as a 12-year-old,’’ Snr Sgt Bond said.
Police also do not keep photographs or fingerprints of 12-year-olds on file, he said.
The 16-year-old was returned to Otago Oranga Tamariki custody.
However, because the social workers were Dunedin-based, they did not have his details and could not verify his age.
He was eventually returned to Rolleston, where he was identified by a Canterbury social worker as a 16-year-old.
He was then arrested, Snr Sgt Bond said.
The 16-year-old would be appearing in Christchurch Youth Court and the 11-year-old was being followed up with by Youth Aid.
The 15-year-old was arrested and had initially been charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.
He would appear in Dunedin Youth Court on July 31.
‘‘We are interested in any dashcam footage for motorists that were travelling along State Highway 1 [on Sunday] and any CCTV from in and around the locations that the cars were stolen or recovered,’’ Snr Sgt Bond said.
