Petrol theft progress

Kwinana police were dealt a double victory recently when an alleged repeat petrol thief walked into the station and was apprehended with ecstasy and LSD in his pocket.

The 20-year-old Madora Bay man was allegedly involved in five fuel thefts from Shell Coles Express in Casuarina and Singleton from August, 2015, to April, 2017.

Police made inquiries into the ownership of the car before the man was brought into the station for questioning, where they say he was found to be in the possession of drugs and charged with four counts of stealing and three counts of possessing prohibited drugs.

His arrest was part of an operation targeting petrol theft in Kwinana, with police working closely with a fuel company to identify and charge alleged repeat offenders.

Senior Sergeant Rob Read said fuel thefts were an ongoing problem.

“We are working together with the local service stations ... working with their security manager preparing files for the police containing all the evidence that is required,” he said.

“Through the co-operation between ourselves and Shell, we managed to come to a good result, and that is the second good result in a short period of time from that service station.”

A 38-year-old Waikiki woman was also recently charged with seven counts of stealing from the Shell Coles Express on Thomas Road between February 11 and 25 and March 25, 2017.

“Particular service stations have ongoing issues where they have repeat offenders, which obviously shows a disregard for the law,” Sen. Sgt Read said.

“This is a good start and we are heading in the right direction so that these people can’t just disregard the law and get away with it.”