Teenager quizzed over high speed car thefts (From Daily Echo)
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Teenager quizzed over high speed car thefts
12:27pm Thursday 1st May 2008 in Crime Watch
A TEENAGE boy was last night being quizzed by detectives following the thefts of high performance cars from driveways in Southampton.
Officers from the Met arrested the 15-year-old at an address in London yesterday morning in connection with the burglaries in which keys were stolen to cars parked outside houses.
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As revealed in the Daily Echo last month (April) a gang are thought to be behind the raids on homes in the city as well as Hedge End, Eastleigh and Chandler's Ford.
The thieves ended up leaving the area on one morning with two stolen cars and were involved in a police pursuit up the M3, which was later called off for safety reasons.
However, the gang were later involved in a collision with a Hampshire police vehicle in Basingstoke as they made their getaway.
Among the cars they were attempting to steal was an Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW but it was not known if they were stealing to order.
Detectives in Southampton's priority crime unit issued a warning to residents not to keep their car keys close to the front door of their homes and to make sure their properties were protected as they tried to track down those responsible.
Houses in Woodmill Lane, Athelstan Road and Manor Farm Road in Bitterne as well as homes in Chalvington Road, Chandler's Ford, Cudworth Mead and Alexandra Road in Hedge End and Jackdaw Rise in Eastleigh were among those targeted.
The 15-year-old boy was being held in police custody following his arrest by Met officers working in conjunction with Hampshire Police.
