Three young people have been arrested following a raft of burglaries in Rangiora early on Wednesday morning.
Senior Sergeant Stephen McDaniel said the "proactive work of officers on the ground" in Rangiora led to the arrests following three commercial burglaries on High St and Ashley St.
"Police were called to action after a patrol unit conducting proactive patrols in Rangiora saw the fog cannon of a phone store had been activated on Ashley Street around 4:10am.
"Following this sighting, Police were notified of two further burglaries after two more store alarms were activated, including a fog cannon at one of the stores.
"A vehicle was seen leaving from near one of the stores in the Rangiora CBD, however, was not pursued and was subsequently located abandoned outside another store.
"Later this morning, a vehicle freshly reported stolen was seen driving on Ohoka Road and signalled to stop, however the driver failed to do so and continued onto Williams Street. A pursuit was not initiated.
"Around 4:40am police came across the vehicle crashed on Main North Rd near Doubledays Rd, Kaiapoi.
"As a precaution, the three occupants were checked over by ambulance staff, but they were uninjured," McDaniel said.
All three of the young people were "well known to police".
They have been remanded in custody and are due to reappear in the Christchurch Youth Court on charges including failing to stop, unlawfully getting into a vehicle, and burglary.
"This behaviour is understandably frustrating for business owners and residents in our community," McDaniel said.
"We are glad to have held these offenders accountable almost immediately after the offences were reported.
"Police continue to encourage the community to report suspicious behaviour by calling 111 if it is happening now, or 105 if it is after the fact."
