Wagga's deliberately-lit fires driving victims to the brink

Glenfield Park’s Lance Hanara has offered a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those that ransacked his home and destroyed his ute on Sunday morning. 

It came as a cruel blow to Mr Hanara’s partner, who was deprived of being bedside for the birth of her sister’s child because they were unable to drive to Albury Hospital.

Despite now being $4000 in debt, it was the theft of his mobile phone that hurt the most. 

“It had thousands of photos of my newborn son on it which are now all gone,” Mr Hanara said. 

“I’ve got an injury and I was off work just trying to spend some time at home with him.

“For me to have to pay $1000 to try get someone caught, shows how problematic all of this crime has become.

“My partner can’t sleep at night anymore.”

Since Friday morning, five cars have been torched and two stolen – putting a significant strain on emergency services. 

The Daily Advertiser understands between 60-70 cars have been set alight inside the Local Area Command so far this year.

Police revealed one of the smouldering vehicles had been stolen by a known juvenile offender who escaped a drug rehabilitation facility in Canberra. 

“He purely walked out; stole the car and made his way back here,” Detective Inspector Darren Cloake said. 

“It’s brazen and shows no respect for the law.”

Detective Inspector Cloake claims the Dareton teen has stolen and torched dozens of cars during his tenure in Wagga. 

“He’s been committing all of the offences we’ve been trying to target and reduce,” he said. 

After a foot pursuit on Tobruk Street, Ashmont, officers were able to apprehend the 16-year-old boy. 

More than 277 cars were stolen in 2016, with 80 set alight before October, according to Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research data. 

The hot topic hits close to home for Tolland’s Terry Ryan, who has his beloved Ford F-150 destroyed by arsonists last month.

“It was my pride and joy and I’ll never get it back,” he said. 

“Nobody will ever know what they get out of it – inflicting pain on other people.”