12-year-old Hedland girl charged over hour-long stolen vehicle pursuit

A 12-year-old South Hedland girl has been charged over an hour-long stolen vehicle pursuit through the streets of the mining town this morning. The chase ended when the stolen ute, a work vehicle, crashed on Huxtable Crescent between 7am and 8am. Police have made a number of charges against the 12 year old girl in relation to the incident. A second juvenile, a male, who was in the passenger seat during the pursuit, has been referred to a juvenile justice team process in relation to their involvement. South Hedland Police Station’s Acting Senior Sergeant Dan Acres said it was “a fairly low speed chase” due to the pair “driving around in circles”. There were no injuries sustained due to the chase or the crash, however a car parked on Huxtable Crescent was badly damaged. The chase took place and ended within a few hundred meters from Baler Primary School, which sent an “urgent message” to parents and carers on Wednesday morning to warn of potential danger. The alert from Baler PS principal Jackie Barry asked parents to take care when dropping students at school on Wednesday morning due to “ongoing police activity around the surrounding areas”. On Wednesday afternoon, WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch announced more than 30 extra officers, drones, canine units and the air wing unit have been deployed to Broome as part of a special operation to combat escalating youth crime. Code-named Operation Regional Shield, a police strike team made up of specialist officers from the Regional Operations Group and Regional Investigations Unit will be based in Broome and dispatched to Kimberley locations as required. Speaking at the press conference, Police Minister Paul Papalia said the operation was just the start of a widespread response to the issue. It is expected the operation will be rolled out in the Pilbara in the coming weeks. Earlier in the week, WA Premier Mark McGowan also announced a number of measures to tackle escalating youth crime in the North West, and said it would be a “key priority” for the year ahead. Programs announced included on-country diversion options and the target 120 early intervention program, which are set to be rolled out across the region in coming months. Mr McGowan said the reasons behind problems being experienced in the North West were complex and “won’t be solved in the life of this Government”, but said he would continue to put a major effort into a comprehensive response.