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A group of teenagers have been arrested after an alleged two day long crime spree spanning from Auckland to Whangārei.
Police have responded to three burglaries at petrol stations in Northland, as well as two incidents at Auckland restaurants, including an aggravated robbery, since early Monday morning.
Officers in Whangārei arrested the four youths, aged 13 to 15, after a pursuit in which the alleged offenders rammed a police car, rendering it immobile. Police spiked the offenders vehicle as they fled on foot, before being found nearby.
The business association on Auckland's North Shore said the community had been rocked an aggravated robbery on Monday night. Police believed the same group entered a restaurant on Clyde Street in Browns Bay, around 11.40pm last night, armed with knives and screwdrivers, demanding money.
Town centre manager Kim Murdoch said such incidents made people in the community feel unsafe.
"It rocks all the businesses and the public, people lose faith in the town being a safe place, and we have to deal with that as well as deal with the individuals that were confronted," she said.
Murdoch said the business association's security would be increasing patrols in the area. They wanted more severe penalties for those involved, she said.
"They set examples for other children, and we think that they need to be dealt with severely so that an example gets set."
But Whangārei community worker Zee Tana said he wanted to see more support for youths at risk of committing crime. Tana runs a community centre and works directly with both youths and the older generation.
He said many of their troubles come from a lack of purpose.
"We're not doing enough to support our youth so they're just taking it on themselves to figure it out their own way, and then getting into these sticky pickles, sticky messes, you know?"
Tana said there needed to be less talk, and more action.
"Anyone that has a complaint about this, or points a finger and says 'look at those young people, what are they up to,' point the finger back at yourself and ask what exactly are you doing, how much are you committing yourself in the community," he said.
The teenagers were expected to appear in Whangārei Youth Court today.