Police have released CCTV images and are appealing for public assistance as investigations continue into the theft of \u2018smart\u2019 watches from retail stores.
\nOfficers from Lake Macquarie Police District launched an investigation after three males took 12 \u2018smart\u2019 watches from a store at a Charlestown shopping centre on Wednesday 18 September 2019.
\nOfficers from Kuring Gai Police Area Command were notified of a second incident on Wednesday 2 October 2019, after 17 watches were stolen from a store at a Hornsby shopping centre.
\nInvestigators have been told; however, that the items are only display models with very limited functionality despite appearing identical.
\nThey are warning members of the public \u2013 who may be offered the watches for sale \u2013 to exercise caution and ensure they ask for proof-of-purchase before proceeding with a transaction, online or otherwise.
\nInitial inquiries suggest the incidents are linked and investigators are now releasing CCTV images of three males who may be able to assist with their investigation.
\nThe first male is described as being Caucasian appearance, about 18-20 years old, of a medium build, and with a dark beard and moustache.
\nHe is depicted wearing a white t-shirt, black hooded jacket, cream coloured pants, and an orange cap.
\nThe second male is described as being Caucasian appearance, about 18-20 years old, of a medium build, and with short brown hair.
\nHe is depicted wearing a black hooded jumper, black pants, and is seen carrying a black backpack.
\nThe third male is described as being Caucasian appearance, 15-17 years old, of a slim build, and with short dark hair.
\nHe is depicted wearing a black hooded jumper, and black pants with white stripes down each leg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Police have released CCTV images and are appealing for public assistance as investigations continue into the theft of \u2018smart\u2019 watches from retail stores. Officers from Lake Macquarie Police District launched an investigation after three males took 12 \u2018smart\u2019 watches from a store at a Charlestown shopping centre on Wednesday 18 September 2019. Officers from Kuring … Continue reading “CCTV vision released after smart watches stolen from Hornsby and Charlestown stores”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}