Geraldton boy’s bike stolen while fishing at Chapman River weeks before alleged assault at nearby toilets

A father claims his 12-year-old son had his bike stolen by a group of youths in Bluff Point two weeks before a German backpacker was allegedly assaulted with an electric saw in a nearby toilet block. On July 22, a 12-year-old boy was fishing alone off the Chapman Road bridge in Bluff Point when his father says a group of three teenagers approached him. The boys sifted through his bag in front of him before stealing his bicycle and riding away. The junior fisherman called his father, who said he spoke through tears over the phone. The family, who wish to remain anonymous to protect their identity, made the move to Geraldton from Perth in June. A report was made to Geraldton police, but officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Chris Martin said no one was identified following an investigation. It comes as Geraldton detectives charged a 17-year-old boy over an attempted robbery on a 24-year-old German tourist about 10.40pm on Monday in a toilet block on Kempton Street in Bluff Point, which left the tourist injured after it’s claimed he was struck with an electric saw. “This has to stop, I don’t know how old these kids were that attacked the tourist but it seems pretty funny that it was a group of young people. It could have been the same kids,” the 12-year-old’s father said. The Bluff Point father said more needed to be done, from both a law and a societal perspective, to hold perpetrators to account. “It’s not just the police, they probably have their hands tied,” he said. “They probably know who the perpetrators are and can arrest them but these kids will be back out in the streets the same day because they aren’t getting dealt with the way they should in the judicial system. “Elders in the community need to step up and not let this happen. Kids need to be in a school setting. “At the end of the day, these children were born with parents, and their families need to be held responsible for their children’s actions. “The parents don’t care, or they don’t know, or they’re in prison themselves. “I know these kids have had a horrible upbringing and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. At the end of the day, crime is crime and you can’t go terrorising the community.” Detectives are investigating the assault, and ask anyone in the area at the time who may have video footage of a group of young males in the Beresford and Bluff Point areas to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report online. Police do not believe the two incidents are linked.