Public Safety Warning Tyre spikes located and causing damage in State Forests.
***Editor's Note: some of the images depicted in this post were obtained from open sources online. ***
Police have received a number of reports of homemade tyre spikes being found on public roads within Vulcan and Gurnang State Forests in the states Central West near Oberon.
These sharpened metal spikes cause tyre and vehicle damage and are a risk to the personal safety of all forest users and workers.
State Rural Crime Coordinator, Detective Inspector Cameron Whiteside outlined that these incidents are of a real concern to police in terms of public safety.
At the moment these spikes are causing damage to vehicle tyres, however they have the real potential to cause vehicles to lose control, resulting in serious injuries or death to families that frequent the forests.
If your vehicle has been damaged by spikes please report it to your local police immediately. Please take photos of the spikes and minimise the handling of the spikes, using disposable gloves where possible as we would like to have the spikes forensically examined. Detective Inspector Whiteside outlined.
Police urge anyone driving in State Forests to be vigilant and exercise caution.
Anyone with information is urged to report it to their local police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
To date police have had to chase down the reports after seeing the matters recorded on social media. We would like the matters reported directly to your local police in a timely manner, to increase the potential of charging those responsible.
If you have information in relation to the Vulcan or Gurnang State Forests, please contact the Chifley Police District Rural Crime Prevention Team on (02) 6332 8699.