newy.com.au – A 32-year-old man will face court after being charged over a series of alleged break-ins across Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast in which firearms, vehicles, cash and collectable trading cards were reportedly stolen.
Police began investigating after eight locations at Cooranbong, Tuggerah, Charmhaven and Ourimbah were allegedly broken into between May and June.
Officers from Tuggerah Lakes and Lake Macquarie police districts searched a property on South Tacoma Road at Tacoma South about 7.40am on Wednesday.
Police said they seized items believed to have been used during the alleged offences, including a rifle scope and slingshot. Small quantities of methylamphetamine and buprenorphine were also seized for forensic examination.
The man was arrested at the property and taken to Wyong Police Station, where he was charged with 14 offences.
The charges include five counts of breaking into a home and stealing property valued at no more than $60,000, and one count of aggravated break and enter in company.
He was also charged with receiving stolen property, taking and driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent, participating in a criminal group, possessing or using a prohibited weapon without a permit, possessing an unauthorised firearm and two counts of possessing a prohibited drug.
Police will allege the man hid a firearm in bushland near Mardi after it was stolen from a Cooranbong property in June.
He was refused bail and was due to appear before Bail Division Local Court 6 on Thursday.
