A SOMERVILLE teenager has been charged with criminal damage by fire after an ATM in Eramosa Road East was scorched by a Molotov cocktail, 11.50pm, Tuesday 20 August.
Somerville CFA fire crews were able to restrict the fire to the front of the building and no other shops were damaged.
Detectives used CCTV footage to identify the 16-year-old who has also been charged over a series of burglaries at Somerville Plaza and an aggravated burglary at a Somerville house, 11.15am, Monday 26 August.
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Jason Hocking, of Somerville CIU, said a startled resident arriving home chased the teenager along the railway line before he was arrested by police in possession of cash taken from the house.
He was allegedly wearing the same clothing shown on the bank’s CCTV the night the ATM was fire bombed.
Detective Hocking said the teenager was also charged with four counts of burglary after a series of night raids on cafes and a pharmacy in the plaza in which cash from tills and alcohol were stolen.
Detectives will allege the teenager used shopping trolleys to smash plate glass windows to gain entry to the premises at the plaza.
He has been bailed to appear at a children’s court at a later date.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 3 September 2019
