On the Beat

Police and fire investigators are looking into the cause of a house fire in Elton Street, East Lismore, around 8.30pm last Thursday. Emergency services arrived to find the split-level brick home well alight. The blaze was extinguished a short time later but the building was extensively damaged. An elderly couple escaped the blaze and the woman was taken to Lismore Base Hospital where she was treated for smoke inhalation. The family dog perished in the fire.

The Ballina Crash Investigation Unit is investigating how a six-year-old boy was hit by a car on a property at Bailey Road, Corndale, around 3.30pm last Friday. Ambulance officers treated the boy at the scene for suspected head and chest injuries before he was airlifted to the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. He underwent surgery and is in a serious but stable condition. The female driver of the car suffered severe shock.

A 61-year-old Kyogle woman was killed in a head-on collision on Friday morning, around 8.30am. Witnesses say the woman was driving a Subaru station wagon on Afterlee Road, when she drove into the path of a heavy vehicle. She was trapped for a short time before being freed by emergency services and was taken to Kyogle Hospital, but died a short time later. The driver of the heavy vehicle was not injured. A post mortem was carried out on Wednesday and Police are preparing a report for the Coroner.

A 25-year-old Casino male has been charged with high range PCA after Highway patrol officers arrested him last week with a breath analysis reading of 0.160.

Casino Police are seeking information on a 1995 Silver Ford Falcon stolen from Dyraaba Street, Casino, between 1.30am and 3.30am last Thursday. The car was seen travelling via Railway Parade, Colches Street, Railway Parade, Hotham Street then either Canterbury or Fergusson streets to the boat ramp. Police found it submerged in the Richmond River at around 4am. Any information to Police on 6662 0099.

A laptop PC, Discman, stills camera, video camera and a small amount of cash were stolen from a house in Ankana Crescent, Goonellabah, between 11am and 6pm last Wednesday.

Thieves gained access via an unlocked sliding door. Anyone with information about suspicious persons or incidents seen in the area at the time or over the last few days, should contact Lismore Police on 6623 1599 or Crime stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Two drivers, aged 24 and 26, had their cars confiscated by Police after they were caught doing burnouts in Casino's CBD last Sunday night. A 1994 Holden sedan and a 1995 green Commodore were confiscated after they were observed doing the burnouts at the intersection of Barker and Centre streets between 9pm and 10pm. The cars will stay in the possession of the Police pending the attendance of the alleged offenders in court.

Ballina police are seeking witnesses following more than $6000 in malicious damage after ceiling panels and light fittings were destroyed in Marge Porter Park in Daydream Avenue, West Ballina on Sunday afternoon. Several youths were seen in the area around 3.40pm. Any information to Police on 6681 8699.

A 54-year-old Tullera man had a lucky escape twice over after falling down a well on Sunday. The man was digging the well on a Dunoon Road property when he stopped to inspect the hole and the ground gave away underneath him. He fell 4-5 metres, cutting his head on a protruding rock. A neighbour rescued the man from the hole and he was taken to Lismore Base Hospital for treatment to the laceration on his head. Afterwards, a large brown snake was found in the well, but the man hadn't been bitten.

A teak table, worth $1000, was stolen from the front verandah of a house in Cathcart Street, Lismore, some time between 7pm Sunday and 8am Monday. Any information to police on 6623 1599.

More than $20,000 of damage was inflicted on industrial machinery on a site in Chauvel Road, Tabulam, over the weekend. Sometime between 3pm Friday and 7am Monday the offenders broke in and hot-wired a Volvo dump truck, then bogged it. They used a CAT excavator to inflict serious damage on the truck, in the process rupturing the excavator's hydraulics. Any information to Tabulam Police on 6666 1244 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

On Monday afternoon at 12.30pm, a woman stopped at a motor vehicle accident near the intersection of Tintenbar and Friday Hut roads, Tintenbar, to render assistance. Ballina Police are asking the witness, 'Ann', to contact Senior Constable Sue Reed on 6681 8699, as she may be able to assist with enquiries. The witness was travelling west behind a white Suzuki at the time.

Ballina Police are appealing for witnesses after a 35-year old woman had her handbag forcibly taken from her around 10pm on Tuesday. The woman had just come home to Swift Street, Ballina, when she was approached by a young male described as about 15-16-years-old, about 180cm tall, of skinny build, and dressed in black with dark or black hair. Her attacker was seen to run to a bicycle nearby and escape east on Webster Lane. Any information to Police on 6681 8699.

A Lismore teenager is $406 poorer and came close to losing his licence after doing a burnout on Tuesday night. Police saw the 19-year-old P-plater do the burnout in a 1995 Holden Commodore. He was fined and lost 3 of the 4 points on his licence.

A 20-year old Lismore woman has been charged with malicious damage and breaching an apprehended violence order (AVO) after she was seen throwing a large rock at a car parked in Phillip Street, Goonellabah, from the passenger seat of a passing vehicle. The rock damaged the windscreen. It was a condition of the AVO that the woman not go near the property.