'Varied and complex' factors behind recent wave of youth crime in Auckland – police

Police say the recent slew of ram raids and burglaries across Auckland are likely the result of groups of youths carrying out multiple offences.

Inspector Jim Wilson told the Herald the majority of the identified offenders are younger than 17, and police intelligence shows it's "likely" they are involved in more than one incident.

"Our investigation work into these burglaries will continue and Police will continue to hold those offenders to account.

However, we need to continue working together as a community to help our young people find better life outcomes."

It comes after a weekend of "mayhem" saw children as young as 11 driving stolen cars, leading police on wild goose chases across Auckland.

On Saturday a group of eight children broke into and stole two vehicles before driving from Takanini towards Waikato.

Two stolen vehicles were spotted exiting at the Te Kauwhata off-ramp where one of the vehicles was spiked by police.

While being monitored by the police Eagle helicopter, the child driving the stolen vehicle crashed into another car, seriously injuring the driver.

The chaos continued when a number of youths fled from the crashed car and jumped into the second stolen vehicle.

They then changed direction and headed back to Auckland on State Highway 1 towards Waitematā, and police attempted to the spike the car.

The child driver avoided the spikes, and intentionally tried to drive into police, before doing a U-turn and trying to flee – at which point the vehicle was successfully spiked.

On Sunday, seven more youths were arrested for attempting to steal vehicles from members of the public on State Highway 1 in Wellsford.

A member of the public observed a suspicious vehicle in Kaiwaka township just before 1pm today. It didn't have any registration plates and was being driven at speeds well in excess of the speed limit.

When the car changed direction and headed northbound again, road spikes were deployed near the northern end of Dome Forest.

After hitting the spikes, the car came to a stop on SH1 in Wellsford, near Wayby Valley Rd.

A group of children then attempted to carjack members of the public waiting in a traffic queue but were arrested soon after.

In April, another group of children – again with an 11-year-old driver – ram-raided a shop in Sandringham.

Nine children fled in stolen vehicles and were caught by police in Manurewa.

These are just some of the issues with youth crime in Auckland. In recent weeks there have been several incidents of ram raids or theft across Auckland – including one where multiple vehicles drove through Ormiston shopping center after hours.

Gas stations, dairies, high end clothing store and electronics stores have all been targeted by raids.

The owner of a clothing store which was targeted on Monday told the Herald it's unsustainable.

Vinod Ranchod's store Big Broz in Panmure was smashed into by a car in the early hours, and thieves made off with thousands of dollars' worth of gear.

"While cleaning up the store this morning, Ranchhod said that he did not feel safe after seeing the increase in ram raids in Auckland.

"You don't feel secure anywhere ... it happens two or three times every day.

"How long can we put up with this? Financially we can't because we've been through all the lockdowns. When you're an owner-operator you lose out completely."

Inspector Wilson told the Herald although police investigate every reported crime, there is a wider issue at hand.

"Police have previously acknowledged that the factors behind this offending is varied and complex.

Some of the wider issues for young people and their whānau are not matters that Police can solve and there is an ongoing co-ordinated approach between the appropriate agencies and social providers to address this."