Working around the clock on the trail of burglars, drugs and cross border crime

Update: 25.10.24

The three men arrested in connection with the burglary and vehicle theft in the Selby area (described below) have now been charged and remanded to appear at Doncaster Magistrates' Court. 

Original press release - 23.10.24

Suspected drug dealers and burglars have all been arrested last night as part of our continued pursuit of criminals, but this was just another night at the office for our specialist operations team.

As the dark nights have started to draw in and Christmas is approaching, we have seen an increase in burglaries across the county over the last few weeks.

Criminals often strike in the middle of the night and use our road network. The specialist operations team which is made up of firearms officers, roads policing officers, operational support unit and the rural task force spend their shifts patrolling the borders in the north and the south of the county as well as the main arterial routes. Equipped with our high-performance cars and eagle eyes their constantly on the hunt for criminals who are using our 6,000 miles of road to commit crime.

Tasked with intercepting travelling criminals they are trained to an advanced level of driving and boxing vehicles in is nothing that is out of the ordinary.

Last night began with a flying start as roads policing officers stopped a vehicle in Harrogate town centre. The vehicle had previously made off from district officers before our roads policing team sighted it near the Stray and boxed it in at the Empress roundabout.

Two occupants were in the car and a quantity of what is suspected to be a class b- drug was discovered on one of the men. A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a class – b drug. He currently remains in police custody. Officers searched the other man and carried out a drugs wipe but this produced a negative result and he was free to go.

Later in the night, shortly after 2.30am, a caller from the Selby area reported to us that he was being confronted by offenders who demanded his car keys whilst threatening him with several weapons.

The suspects made off with the victim’s vehicle and travelled towards the South Yorkshire area. Our intelligence team were working hard behind the scenes to identify a precise location of the vehicle whilst our specialist operations team were travelling at speed towards South Yorkshire.

A short time later we sited the vehicle which didn’t want to stop for us, we followed it across fields before the occupants abandoned it.

A police helicopter and dog unit were scrambled to the area. A call into South Yorkshire Police resulted in three men being arrested. Two of the men were hiding in a hot tub whilst the third man was found underneath a trailer in the back garden of a nearby property. All three were transported to custody in South Yorkshire. At the same location officers found a cloned vehicle which was reported as stolen from the Humberside area.

A further area search in Selby found the original stolen motor vehicle unattended and secure with various weapons inside. This was recovered as the investigation continues.

Roads Policing Sergeant, Ben Prosser-Waite, from North Yorkshire Police said: “We’re relentless in our pursuit of those suspected as being involved in serious and organised crime in North Yorkshire. There is no let-up in our response to intercept criminals, we work around the clock 24-7.

“Last night’s result shows that there are also no borders and when required we will travel into a different force area in pursuit of offenders.

“It is vital that members of the public come forward with information so we can be swift in our response. If you see something that doesn’t look quite right, then please call 999.”

Detective Chief Inspector Shaun Page from North Yorkshire Police said: “Although we’re experiencing a recent spike in burglaries its important to say that North Yorkshire remains one of the safest counties in the country.

“That said, we’re not complacent and will continue to work with residents to help improve home security.

“I would urge people to take simple steps to protect themselves from burglars and if you have any questions speak to an officer or contact us via the force website”.

Here are some ways you can protect both your car and home from being targeted in a car key burglary:

 Consider installing CCTV to cover your property and put up a sign to declare that you have CCTV for potential intruders to see.

Fit outside security lighting to the front and back of your home and install a visible intruder alarm.

Use your garage – if you have a garage or outbuilding, please use it and lock your car away when not in use.

If you don’t have a garage, consider fitting sturdy and lockable gates or a security post to your driveway.

Fit a high-quality alarm, immobiliser or tracking device to your car if finances allow. Alternatively, use a device such as a visible steering or wheel locks.

Always lock your car and make sure doors, windows, the boot, and sunroof are secure whenever you leave your vehicle.

If you own more than one vehicle, park the lesser valued vehicle nearer to the road on the driveway than the more expensive one, making it more difficult to remove.

Always make sure the windows and doors to your house are locked.

Consider upgrading your door locks to anti-snap locks, ideally ones with a 3-star euro cylinder rating.

Don’t leave your car keys on view or placed near windows, doors, or cat-flaps where thieves can see them.

Look out for your neighbours and report anything suspicious in your area.