Four men have been arrested following two burglaries in Merseyside yesterday that saw one person sprayed with an unknown substance and a woman assaulted.
Around 11.40am on Saturday, June 4 on Burbo Bank Road in Blundellsands it was reported a group of men all wearing face masks forced their way into a house. They stole a large amount of jewellery and sprayed the victim with an unknown substance before running away.
A short time later at around 12.50pm officers received a second report of a burglary on Cuckoo Lane in Gateacre where a man knocked on the door of the property and forced his way into the address followed by three other men. A woman was then assaulted in the property and a large amount of jewellery was taken before they fled the area.
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Officers attended the address and spotted a blue Audi S4 in the area which was abandoned following a police pursuit in Hale Village. After an extensive search of the area officers later arrested four men aged 25, 34, 27 and 24 from Liverpool and Cardiff and taken to a police station in Merseyside where they remain in custody.
Detectives are currently looking for a fifth suspect and are appealing for more information about both burglaries.
Detective Inspector Phil Ryan said: “This was clearly a terrifying incident for the occupiers of both homes. Thankfully they were not seriously injured but were obviously left visibly distressed by their ordeals.
“Although we have made four arrests we are still searching for a fifth suspect and are appealing to anyone in Blundellsands or Gateacre who may have seen this group of men yesterday afternoon or saw or heard anything suspicious to contact us. I am particularly appealing for any taxi or delivery drivers to check their dashcam to see if they captured the blue Audi or anything significant.
“Any information you hold could be vital to helping us find those involved in the burglaries and putting them before the courts. Burglaries can have a profound impact on victims and the arrests we have made shows that where we receive reports of burglaries from the communities affected we will take action.
“It is always worth having a look at the different ways you can make your homes unattractive targets for would-be criminals. Advice is available on our website for locks, cameras and other measures to bring greater security and peace of mind.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact @MerpolCC on Twitter or Merseyside Police Contact Centre on Facebook quoting reference 22000384726.
Alternatively you can leave information anonymously with Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You can also use their online form anonymously: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information-online. Crime prevention advice can be found at: www.merseyside.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/.
