Cold case squad probe 2007 burglary, pursuit where shotgun was fired at police before car crash in Haynes

Cold case detectives are investigating a dramatic police chase in 2007 during which a shotgun was fired at officers — as well as a brazen burglary days prior — after two men previously arrested over the incident were released. Investigators are calling for any information regarding the burglary and a police chase which occurred two weeks later and came to a crashing end in Haynes. During the police chase, on December 6, 2007, Kensington police tried to stop a Holden Commodore which had been stolen during the burglary of a Halls Head property on November 23 that year. A police spokeswoman said a person sitting in the front passenger seat of the Holden “fired a number of rounds from a shotgun at police” during the chase. It was previously reported the passenger fired between eight to ten shotgun rounds at officers. Police returned fire — reported to be at least three shots — when responding to the confronting ordeal. Nobody was injured and no vehicles were reportedly struck by the bullets, according to police. A large scale manhunt involving the tactical response group and sniffer dogs lasted days after two people inside the Holden fled into bushland in the Haynes area, near the intersection of Woolaston Avenue and Eleventh Road, after the car crashed during the chase. After four hours, a man was taken into custody approximately one kilometre north of the abandoned car hiding near a swamp. It wasn’t until five days later that a second man was found. Police on Thursday said both men were later released. It is understood at least one of the men was charged over the incident before he was released. Detective First Class Constable Lee Frampton, of cold case investigations, said the firing of the shotgun towards police was “a deliberate and dangerous act which could have resulted in the death or serious injury to those police officers, who were simply doing their jobs.” “We believe there are people who know what happened that night, and we urge them to come forward,” he said. “Even a small piece of information may be crucial to progressing this investigation. “Time doesn’t diminish the seriousness of this crime. We owe it to the officers involved, and to the community, to bring those responsible to justice.”