NEW South Wales Police, along with avid motorbike rider and Mildura-local Chloe Ackerley, spent the better part of the week hunting two of Ms Ackerley’s motorbikes after they were stolen on Saturday, February 1, from the Broken Hill Tourist Park.
Ms Ackerley was in town for the Broken Hill Speedway Club meet and the young rider, as well as her friends and family stayed at the venue, only to wake up and in the morning to find a KTM 450 and 250, worth more than $40,000, stolen.
While the bikes were subsequently located, it wasn’t without drama.
On Wednesday Barrier Police District’s Acting Inspector Tony Allen said there had been sightings of the bikes in the Broken Hill area.
“We believe the bikes are still in the area and the case is still under investigation,” he said.
On the same day at about 12pm, the police apprehended a suspect in the thefts, with the alleged perpetrator one of five masked assailants.
The alleged assailant was in custody but refusing to provide details on the location of the bikes or alleged accomplices.
While the crime was caught on a security camera, some of the alleged offenders wore masks.
Police also searched sites on Rakow Street near the caravan park for evidence of the masks.
As the bikes are for racing, and Ms Ackerley said she’d been unable to find an insurer, and was set to be out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars if they remained missing.
Ms Ackerley also said that another of her family member’s had bikes nearly stolen at the caravan park too.
“My dad came up Saturday and had my brother’s 85 in the back of the ute, down the other end of the caravan park,” she said.
“So at 3.52am they were seen jumping the fence and were seen trying to take my brothers 85 out the back of my dad’s ute.”
Luckily for the family the movement of an esky in the ute awoke a member of the who chased the perpetrators away.
Following the attempt Ms Ackerley’s bikes were stolen, with the alleged thieves taking them off the ute and removing them from the park on-foot.
Yet in a positive turn of events, Thursday saw the two bikes returned to Ms Ackerley unscathed.
“The Indigenous community played a pivotal role in locating the bikes, the matter is still in police hands,” she said.
Anyone who has information regarding the events is urged to contact Broken Hill Police on 08 8087 0299 or Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.
