![A large number of Albury and Wodonga police were involved. Picture by Mark Jesser A large number of Albury and Wodonga police were involved. Picture by Mark Jesser](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/u2TKvX7hYXGMrKgrD4ZiFN/1917c123-5be3-403e-a71f-9381e820e516.jpg/r0_273_5350_3293_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Police have arrested 13 people with warrants following a two day cross-border crackdown.
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Among those caught by Albury and Wodonga police members on Thursday and Friday were people with charges pending for violence, theft, drug matters and aggravated burglary.
One person arrested in the Wodonga region had been wanted for 15 years, while another had eight individual arrest warrants.
Albury officers took a police dog to their arrests but found little resistance from those wanted.
Border officers had compiled a list of those they were keen to arrest and were particularly concerned about those who would need to be extradited and were likely to be held in custody.
![Wodonga Inspector Paul Henry. Wodonga Inspector Paul Henry.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/u2TKvX7hYXGMrKgrD4ZiFN/12cccdeb-27a0-4041-83c3-1b512f094676.jpg/r0_266_5210_3207_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The offences included a man who stole a bottle of alcohol at Elgin's in Wodonga in 2015 before fleeing and skipping court.
Jack Sampson, 29, faced Wodonga court on Friday exactly eight years too late.
He had been due to appear in court on June 16, 2015, after stealing a one litre bottle of Jim Beam from the Elgin's bottle shop on May 2 of that year.
He scaled a chain fence at the then unused rail yards and smashed the bourbon bottle as he fled.
He was on Friday ordered to pay $50 in compensation to the business after spending a night in the police cells.
![Lisa Restall was arrested in Wodonga and sent back to Albury, before being remanded in custody in NSW. Lisa Restall was arrested in Wodonga and sent back to Albury, before being remanded in custody in NSW.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/u2TKvX7hYXGMrKgrD4ZiFN/705fd112-6bd9-47ff-a368-ef383cf83ee3.jpg/r0_0_652_659_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Brody Widdup on Friday admitted to using a stolen credit card to buy $1363 in goods in October 2019 and to assaulting his boyfriend in October the following year.
The court heard the Urana man, who was also caught shoplifting, now worked as a roustabout.
He was fined $2000, with magistrate Marita Altman noting he had used his time since the offending "very productively".
"It's always encouraging to see someone when they do absent themselves from the jurisdiction make something of themselves," she said.
"Well done for making changes in your life and putting a life in place for yourself that's positive and fruitful."
Widdup and Sampson were two people sent from Albury to Wodonga, while people including Lisa Renee Restall, Troy Collins and Jessica Ann Webster made the opposite journey.
Restall was refused bail on Friday on charges of possessing or attempting to possess a controlled substance, drug possession, driving matters, and having suspected stolen goods,
![Brody Widdup also faced Wodonga court after his arrest in NSW. Brody Widdup also faced Wodonga court after his arrest in NSW.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/u2TKvX7hYXGMrKgrD4ZiFN/3a4e1796-4722-4181-bae4-59c4b597b849.jpg/r0_0_960_960_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She will return to Albury court on July 31.
Collins was fined $700 for being at a drug premises and using a false document, while Webster was placed on a corrections order for aggravated break-and-enter in company.
Wodonga Inspector Paul Henry said the number of people with arrest warrants in Wodonga had reduced from about 230 to 190 in the past three months.
He said many wanted people could attend a police station and be released on bail.
Inspector Henry urged people to hand themselves in, rather than having the warrants hanging over their heads.
"You are unable to avoid the justice process simply by going across state borders," he said.
"This is a gateway to future operations in which we will continue to target enforceable actions about outstanding warrants."
Police have been mailing letters to those in Wodonga with warrants.
![Jack Sampson Jack Sampson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/u2TKvX7hYXGMrKgrD4ZiFN/5b15513d-5f75-4e9c-ab70-8d2bc0409e23.jpg/r0_0_720_555_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We would ask those people to come forward and make themselves known," Inspector Henry said.
"Imagine the peace of mind you might actually experience about not having to worry about shopping in Coles in Wodonga and having that outstanding warrant over your head."
Albury Detective Chief Inspector Mick Stoltenberg said police could make arrests at "any time of the day, don't worry about that".
"If you think you have a warrant, even if they are something of a minor nature, don't live under a rock and try to hide," he said.
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"Man up, do the right thing, come in and hand yourself in.
"We'll oblige, we'll clear the warrants for you, we'll put you before the courts, I'll even make sure you get a cup of tea or coffee while you're there.
"If people think they can just skip from one side of the border and keep their head down and lay low, well you're in for a shock - it's not the case at all."
He said the two day operation was an example of the two police forces working "hand in glove".
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