Canterbury Police have arrested a 17 year old who they believe has played a pivotal role in a series of violent robberies that have shaken Christchurch in recent weeks.

Canterbury Police District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill confirmed the arrest during an interview with chrislynchmedia.com on Tuesday afternoon, saying the teenager was taken into custody in New Brighton within the last hour.

“We have arrested a 17 year old male that we believe has had a pivotal role in organising this offending,” Hill said. “We are hoping this arrest and the others that will follow behind it will bring this offending to an end.”

The 17-year-old will appear in the Youth Court on a number of charges, including burglary, aggravated robbery, and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

“We continue to work at pace to identify other parties involved in this and other recent youth offending, and hold those parties to account.

“Anyone who has information that might help our enquiries is urged to call 105, referencing Operation Anchor.”

You can also share information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

The arrest came on the same day police announced a major two month operation to target and disrupt youth related crime across the city, including the temporary deployment of the Police Eagle helicopter to Christchurch from tomorrow.

Hill said the operation was triggered by the seriousness of recent youth offending rather than the volume.

“We were alarmed by the escalation in offending, not the numbers but just the seriousness of this over the last few weeks,” he said.

Up to 30 staff will be assigned to the operation at various times, including frontline officers deployed to high risk locations and detectives working on the recent robberies. The dedicated Youth Crime Team has been doubled to ten staff.

Hill said Eagle would play a key role in both prevention and response but would not reveal operational details.

“It will be in the skies over the next few days. Our priority is around preventing this youth offending. We will have them focused on locations that we believe are of interest to us, perhaps including some of the addresses we know these youth are frequently at.”

Hill said police understand the community’s frustration, particularly after recent attacks including the aggravated robbery in Opawa where a store worker was seriously injured, and the robbery in Heathcote where a staff member was ordered to lie on the ground at gunpoint.

He said today’s arrest may be linked to the Opawa incident.

“We believe that he has had a role in this, but we will hopefully have that person before the courts tomorrow morning,” he said.

The investigation into the Heathcote robbery is also progressing positively.

“We are hoping in the next 24 hours we will be able to give more information about that,” Hill said. “Our team have worked tirelessly at piecing these offences together, working out who is responsible, and we are rapidly bringing those people before the courts and holding them to account.”

Hill said the operation could be extended if required, but police are confident they can bring the situation under control within two months.

“When we actively target these offenders then the offending levels drop right off. We know there is a small number of offenders doing a large percentage of this offending. We want to apprehend them and give the community confidence again.”