Crime

Wainuiomata: Teen’s Trial For Blackmail Aborted

Wellington, Sept 7 NZPA – A Hutt Valley teenager accused of blackmailing a friend over a stolen van has had his trial aborted after a juror raised concerns about his connections to those involved.

Jeremy Connolly, 19, was charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle and blackmail after his arrest in October last year, after he text-messaged a friend whose van was stolen to say he could get it back — at a cost of $1300.

Following his arrest, he told police he was just trying to facilitate the van’s return but admitted the thieves had promised him a cut of the ransom.

Connolly’s trial, which began in the High Court at Wellington today, was thrown out this afternoon after a juror raised a concern with the judge over his connections to people in Wainuiomata, where the alleged offending took place, defence counsel Louise Sziranyi told NZPA.

A retrial would be ordered. NZPA

via voxy.co.nz

So you pinch a mates car, then decide to blackmail him via text that you can get his car back.
Is Wainuiomata big enough to even contemplate acting this out, without being associated with the others involved. As the juror involved showed!

Unbelievable, no criminal Mastermind here….

Lower Hutt: Schoolgirls fight

There has been another ugly incident involving two groups of female school students in Lower Hutt. The schools concerned are believed to be Wainuiomata High School and Hutt Valley High School.

Police say they attended an incident at Westfield mall in Lower Hutt yesterday afternoon because of reports of fighting between two groups of girls reported by Westfield staff. One witness described seeing some of the students from rival schools in the Hutt Valley having blood on their school uniforms.

Police made no arrests as the 30 to 40 girls involved in the fight ran off as officers arrived. As yet neither High Schools are making comment.

Upper Hutt Police grateful for CCTV

Upper Hutt Police are grateful for the CCTV cameras which helped them identify and catch a group of young thieves who had stolen from a 14 year old autistic boy.

The incident occurred at approximately 4pm on the Wednesday 2nd September 2009 at the Upper Hutt Railway Station. The boy had been waiting at a bus shelter when a group of youths formulated a plan to steal his school bag.

While the boy was not looking, one of the youths threw the victim’s school bag across the station subway area into the waiting arms of two others. Two of the group rifled through the boy’s bag taking a cell phone and wallet, items which he depended on for communicating with his family.

After removing the items, the group threw the bag back across the railway station towards the victim.

The boy became very distraught when he noticed his bag missing. He was visibly shaken and vulnerable and was comforted by a bus driver at the time.

Upper Hutt police conducted area patrols of the railway station and surrounding streets. Members of the public provided information regarding the youth’s whereabouts and they were apprehended by Police. Two youths have been referred to Police Youth Aid for their offending.

“The combination of evidence from CCTV footage, members of the public has helped us to track down these youths and return this boy’s property. CCTV is very a valuable tool and we’re very grateful that we have it”, said Constable Dave Higgins, who was one of the attending officers.

Constable Higgins commented that with further advances in the CCTV technology in the city, apprehensions of offenders for similar type offending could be greatly enhanced.

Via NZ Police

Wainuiomata: Police seek robber of Caltex Service Station

Police are looking for a man who robbed a Caltex service station in Wainuiomata on Tuesday last week.
The offender entered the Strand Caltex on August 25 between 10:45pm and 11:10pm and demanded cash from the sole employee, said Lower Hutt police.
He was described as being 1.67m tall and of solid build. He was wearing dark clothing.
He left with an undisclosed amount of money.

Upper Hutt BNZ bank robbed

27 August 2009

Upper Hutt Bank Robbery

At about 1.35 pm today the BNZ Bank in Upper Hutt was robbed by a male.

The offender did not have any weapons with him but handed over a note to the teller.

He escaped with an undisclosed sum of money but was seen by a bank employee and followed to his vehicle. The employee took a photo of the vehicle which he was able to give to police.

A short time later police located the vehicle at an address in Upper Hutt. It was stopped by armed police after it left the address around 2.45 pm.

A 41 year old male from Lower Hutt has been arrested and charged with robbery. The cash has been recovered.

The male will appear in the Upper Hutt District Court tomorrow.

He has also been charged with the Upper Hutt Westpac Bank robbery of 4 August 2009.

Mike Hill
Inspector
Area Commander: Upper Hutt

via nzpolice

Ok that now makes it 3 bank robberies in as many months, not resolved. This one, Westpac in Upper Hutt last month, and the Kiwi Bank at Queensgate Westfield. At least the offender was caught which goes some way toward justice. My concern is for the staff impacted. I have been involved in seeing the repercussions of an armed robbery and the impact it can have on those involved, not just now but several months or years down the track, it is not pleasant.

Equally the incidents of robbery of this type are on the increase and there is no denying that some parts of our society are being impacted far greater by the economic recession. I fear that more of these will occur as unemployment figures continue to rise.

Arrest over Hutt service station robberies

Arrest over Hutt service station robberies

A 22-year-old man accused of robbing two Lower Hutt service stations at knifepoint will appear in court today.

Police said they arrested the man on Friday and charged him with the aggravated robbery of BP Waiwhetu on Whites Line East and Caltex VIC on the corner of High St and Brunswick St on August 1.

He appeared in court on Saturday and was remanded in custody to appear again today.

– with NZPA

via stuff.co.nz

Great to see that this individual has been caught. It appears aggravated robbery in the Hutt Valley is on the rise in these tough ecnomic times.

Or is it always like this in the Hutt Valley? Crime seems to be the most posted item on HuttNZ.

Posted via web from huttnz’s posterous

Wingate: Firearm charges result from Wednesday night Checkpoint

Two people are due to appear in the Lower Hutt District court next Friday following an assault on Wednesday night at an alcohol checkpoint at Wingate Crescent Taita.

Police say the car was stopped for a routine breath test at Wingate overpass about 7pm. They say the driver 22 was arrested on a fines warrant and his passenger 17 was detained after punching one of the arresting officers several times. Firearms & ammunation were also found in the vehicle. Both men were remanded and will appear on a variety of charges relating to assault, drugs and offensive weapons.

Several other related incidents occurred as the result of the strong Police present, including drink driving evasion resulting in cars being pulled over at NaeNae Shopping Centre. (see below)

Lower Hutt: Liquor outlets targeted by Police

Half the on-licensed Lower Hutt premises visited in a recent police operation were caught selling alcohol to minors.

Ten premises were visited in Operation Vespa, with five caught breaking the law by selling to under-age patrons.

Sergeant Andrew Smith of Lower Hutt police said the results of the operation were disappointing.

“Only 50 per cent of those tested demonstrated they are conscientious about their obligations under the (Sale of Liquor) Act and serious about protecting our young people from liquor abuse.”

He said some of the breaches carried fines of up to $10,000.

The operation was part of an overall campaign to reduce the incidents of alcohol-related harm in the Hutt Valley, and Mr Smith said there would be more operations in the near future. Earlier operations had resulted in convictions at Eastbourne and NaeNae. Earlier operations show the local police take this facet of liquor licencing seriously.

Lower Hutt: Two armed robbeies. Robber sort by Police (Update)

Update

A man who carried out aggravated robberies at two Lower Hutt services stations early today is being hunted by police.

Detective Sergeant Dean Simpson said about 3:52am a lone man entered the BP Waiwhetu service station on Whites Line East at Woburn. He confronted the two staff attendants, demanding money and cigarettes at knife point.

The attendants complied with his demands and he made off with an undisclosed sum of money and several packets of cigarettes.

At 4:28am the same man entered the Caltex service station on the corner of High Street and Brunswick Street, Lower Hutt.

“He again confronted the sole staff attendant demanding money and cigarettes at knife point,” Mr Simpson said.

“The staff member complied with his demands and he made off with an undisclosed sum of money and several packets of cigarettes.”

No one was harmed in either robbery.

The male offender is described as a light skinned Maori, aged in his early 20s, of slim to medium build, clean shaven and 1.67m to 1.72m tall.

He was wearing a dark coloured jacket with the hood up, a black baseball cap underneath the hood and a black scarf around his face. He also wore black jeans and black and white sports shoes.

Mr Simpson said Lower Hutt police wanted to speak with anyone in those areas at the time of the robberies, and who may have seen a man fitting the description or witnessed any suspicious activity.

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Lower Hutt police are investigating armed robberies at two service stations overnight Friday.

The BP Connect and the Caltex in Lower Hutt were targeted within half an hour of each other at around 4am.

Inspector Marty Parker says a man bearing the same description at both robberies threatened staff with a knife and made off with cash and cigarettes.

He is described as Maori, aged about 22 and 165 centimetres tall. He was wearing a black hoodie, black beanie and scarf and had a small moustache.

Epuni: Police seeking help over robbery of Mini Market

A shop owner was knocked to the ground while his mini-mart was robbed of tobacco and cigarettes.

Police are looking for three Maori men who robbed the Epuni Mini Mart in Oxford Terrace, Lower Hutt, at 6pm on Tuesday.

One attacked the owner and knocked him down, while the two others grabbed cigarettes and tobacco before running away.

One man wore a black hoodie with a white pattern on the sleeves.

The second wore black shorts and a white and black hoodie.

The third man wore a white hoodie and black trousers with white shoes.