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THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2024
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FEBRUARY 15, 2024
Robberies: 3 charged By Roy Pilott
Police have made three arrests following two service station robberies in Cambridge. Challenge in Duke St was hit in an armed raid on February 2 and BP in Leamington five days later. And as this edition was about to go to press, Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Patterson announced three males had been arrested. The trio comprised two 17 year olds from Hamilton and an 18-year-old from Cambridge. Patterson said CIB staff had made the robberies a priority case and a matter of urgency. In the Challenge case, where four robbers were involved, one threatened a staff member with a firearm. In the second, a staff member at BP Leamington suffered a wrist injury after being hit with a crowbar. Following the incidents Challenge service station owner Dave Wilkinson told The News “we’re all just sick of it”. Senior Constable Deb Hann has told retailers via the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce to be vigilant, especially at opening and closing times. “I recommend that staff do not work alone at these vulnerable times. Look out for cars parked up close by, especially where occupants are still inside. At all times look out for anyone that appears to be casing out the service station,” she warned. The memo came on the day of the second robbery and she said
BP in Leamington became the second target for robbers in the space of five days. the timing and circumstances were very similar to the earlier one. In both cases, the robbers appeared to have “cased out” the station and were aware of the staff’s morning routines. The incidents in Cambridge came after Waikato police said they had rumbled one robbery ring. Operation Smelter, targeting a group responsible for a series of aggravated robberies, led to the arrest of 10 people, as young as 14, on, among other things, aggravated robbery and burglary counts. The two Cambridge incidents have fuelled debate over the placement of CCTV cameras in the town.
SUPER CRICKET
In both cases CCTV footage was obtained from the service stations. Wilkinson told The News last week he was frustrated at the lack of a CCTV camera in Duke Street and that he understood the number plate recognition on one camera was not working on all vehicles. It is understood that a late January incident around the intersection of Victoria St and Norfolk Drive Down where drivers performed “donuts and burnouts”, causing damage to the road around midnight was in an area not covered by camera. The incident was described as “an hour of chaos”. Waipā District Council works with community groups around
the placement of cameras. Wilkinson pointed to a community led effort in Wairarapa which he believed could bear fruit in Waipā. He was impressed by the initiative after reading a Hawke’s Bay Today report which told how 18 CCTV cameras had been added to the central Hawke’s Bay security network in Waipukurau and Waipawa thanks to a community project started 10 years ago. Since the establishment of the CHB Community Security Trust in 2016 more than $50,000 had been raised for cameras attached privately owned building and monitored at the Waipukurau police station.
Dave Wilkinson
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