Photos, CCTV footage and information from the public have helped police track down and charge two Cockburn residents allegedly behind a string of thefts.
The Banjup pair, a 27-year-old male and 23-year-old female, will appear in court on September 9 charged with stealing and being in possession of stolen items.
They are alleged to have stolen two motor vehicles from a wrecking yard, a TV and a vacuum cleaner from Jandakot and nearby suburbs.
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READ NOWThe first piece of public information came from Cockburn councillor Steve Portelli, who snapped a picture of a white van without registration plates doing laps of Atwell streets.
Cr Portelli, who is also chairman of Cockburn’s Neighbourhood Watch, forwarded the image to police.
“I thought it looked a little but suspicious so I followed it,” he said.
“It went into a cul-de-sac so when it came back I snapped it with the iPad.”
Unknown to him at the time, the van was allegedly used just moments earlier by the Banjup pair to steal a TV set from a home garage.
Fortunately the incident, including the van, was caught on a home security camera.
Police also had a visit from a woman who had purchased a car not realising it had been stolen the same time the white van had been nabbed.
Police were able to use the information supplied by the woman to generate a driver’s licence. That led police to a property of interest where they were able to charge the pair.
First Class Constable Phil Owen, from Murdoch’s Local Policing Team One, said information from the public had proved invaluable.
“The information we received really helped join the dots,” he said.
“There was definitely a rush as we were closing in and a ‘gotcha’ moment when we had two people sitting in custody.”
He said the victims were also thrilled.