Three cars torched in an hour. Townsville police appeal for information

Richard Dinnen - Queensland Editor | July 27, 2022

Police are searching for three men who set fire to stolen cars across Townsville early this morning.

Firefighters responded to 000 calls about car fires on the Dalrymple Service Rd about 4.30am, another in North Ward at 5am, and a third in Railway Estate 20 minutes later.

Detective Inspector Jason Shepherd said the cars had been stolen recently and it’s likely the same group is responsible for all three fires.

“It’s highly likely that it is just a small group, just three or four. Unfortunately, everywhere in Australia, not just Townsville, stolen vehicles are happening every day.

“It is harder to steal a vehicle nowadays. You have to get the keys, you can’t just hotwire a vehicle anymore. People involved have to commit break and enters to get the car keys.

“One of these cars was parked outside the house with the house keys in the car. They were able to force entry to the car, use the house keys to get inside to get the car keys.”

Inspector Shepherd said it’s not uncommon for car thieves to set fire to vehicles when they’ve finished using them.

“Just for the hell of it, or to try to get rid of evidence. If a car is totally destroyed there’s a lot less chance that we can get evidence from it.

“Some of the cars weren’t totally engulfed, so there’s still a chance that we can get evidence from the cars.

“There are suspects that we’re actually following up at the moment.”