Narre Warren Garden and Building Supplies manager Chris Wenn is concerned over the continued theft of machinery in the local area.
By Callan Date
EXCAVATORS and machinery are hot property for thieves in the Casey area.
Four major thefts have occurred recently with hire company businesses and tradesmen targeted in the sophisticated crime set-up.
In the latest break-in, last weekend, equipment valued at more than $70,000 was stolen from Narre Warren Garden and Building Supplies.
Thieves scaled the fence of the hardware store, which doubles as a Kennards Hire business, sometime between 6pm on Saturday night and 8am the next day and stole an excavator, tip-truck and trailer.
Police found the missing equipment in an outer area west of Melbourne, which they didn’t want to identify, on Monday.
However, other businesses have not been as fortunate in recovering their stolen items. Dandenong’s Kennards Hire was hit last week with property valued at about $10,000 stolen during a raid on Thursday night.
Better Rentals in Cranbourne was also the target of a burglary with a Kanga mini excavator, valued at about $13,000, stolen last Sunday week.And a Hallam concreting business suffered a major blow in November when almost $100,000 of machinery, including a bobcat and truck, was taken from a factory.
Narre Warren Garden and Building Supplies manager Chris Wenn said the recent rise in thefts was concerning for everyone involved in the industry.
He said there was a fair chance all the incidents were linked, with an organised group of thieves monitoring businesses and stealing the machinery to possibly take interstate.
“All hire companies, tradesmen and earth-moving companies just have to be really cautious with their equipment,” Mr Wenn said. “You have to be real vigilant and go that extra mile to try and secure everything.”
Mr Wenn said his company was fortunate to have advanced security measures in place, which resulted in the property being found within days.
Hire and Rental Industry Association of Australia executive officer Jenny Lohri said the association’s members were able to make use of DataDot – an advanced security device designed to identify individual machinery.
Ms Lohri said each company received a unique number-coded paint, visible only by a special light, which was sprayed onto their machines.
“It acts as a great deterrent as businesses display signs saying they are using the DataDot technology,” she said.
Narre Warren CIU Senior Sergeant Ian Wilcox said no charges had been laid in relation to the Narre Warren theft with police continuing to investigate.
Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact Narre Warren Police on 9705 3111.
