A police vehicle burns as community members clash with authorities outside Alice Springs Hospital in Alice Springs, Australia, on Thursday night. Police on Monday announced that at least 19 people have been arrested or charged in connection with the riot. File Photo by Rhett Hammerton/EPA
May 4 (UPI) — Police in central Australia have arrested or charged at least 19 people in connection with last week’s riot in Alice Springs, including another 13 charged Monday.
The Northern Territory Police Force said in a statement that those recently charged were identified via CCTV footage as having been involved in the aggravated burglaries of a Shell Express convenience store and a Pigglys Supermarket.
The five women charged were ages 24, 36, 36, 43, and 48.
The six men and one male youth were identified as ages 17, 20, 26, 29, 32, 36 and 44.
The 36-year-old was charged with one count each of unlawfully causing serious harm, aggravated assault and breach of a domestic violence order.
Most were facing counts of aggravated burglary and theft, among other charges.
According to police, further offenders have been identified and more arrests are expected.
The riot erupted in the remote town in Australia’s Northern Territory on Thursday and continued into Friday morning outside a hospital where police brought a man accused of killing a missing 5-year-old.
Several police officers, firefighters and emergency services workers were injured in the unrest at the hospital where officers had brought 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis, prompting authorities to use non-lethal and chemical munitions to disperse the crowd.
Police had been hunting Lewis since the early hours of April 26, after 5-year-old Kumanjai Little Baby was reported abducted from her home in Old Timers Camp, an Aboriginal town camp on the southern outskirts of Alice Springs.
On Thursday, Lewis was spotted in Alice Springs and attacked. He was unconscious when officers took him into police custody.
A large crowd then descended upon the hospital where police had taken Lewis for treatment as they attempted to reach the suspect, who was released from hospital that night and removed from the town.
Five people ages 18, 26, 34, 46 and 49 were arrested Sunday in connection with the aggravated burglaries of a service station and a supermarket in the Alice Springs suburb of The Gap. Charges were expected to be filed.
The two establishments suffered “significant damages and property loss,” according to a statement from the Northern Territory Police Force, which said a total of $75,700 was stolen and there was more than $57,700 in damage was reported.
A woman who was arrested the night of the riot on accusations of setting fire to a police vehicle was charged Saturday.
On Sunday, the Northern Territory Police Force formally charged Lewis with the murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby.
He is expected to appear in Alice Springs Local Court on Tuesday via audiovisual link.
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