By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
A WENDOUREE man, 26, has been arrested after a spate of crimes committed in the Emerald and Upper Beaconsfield area.
The crime spree began on Friday 22 January when the man followed a person home to their Emerald address and insisted they swap cars, before assaulting the resident while trying to steal car keys.
The offender’s own car was found abandoned a short time later in the area but police could not locate the offender.
Later the same evening, the offender was seen on CCTV footage breaking into the Pine Grove Hotel on Stony Point Road in Upper Beaconsfield.
Nothing was stolen from the hotel and the man fled the scene after setting off the security alarm.
At 1.20am on Saturday morning on Beaconsfield- Emerald Road in Dewhurst, a woman was woken to a man tapping on her bedroom window saying he had been involved in a car accident.
The man left the scene when the woman realised the electricity to her house had been turned off and one of the windows smashed.
Later the same morning, another woman woke at 3.55am when the front door of her residence on Stony Creek Road in Upper Beaconsfield was opened and closed.
The male intruder was found in the hallway and proceeded to argue with a male resident of the house after again saying he had been involved in a car accident.
The male fled the residence and the police dog squad were called to conduct a search of the area.
The offender was found in the surrounding bushland, where he resisted arrest, assaulting police officers and a police dog.
The offender was quickly overpowered and arrested and is being interviewed in relation to all four offences.
