$2000 phone card theft

By Lia Bichel
LAPTOPS, international phone cards worth $2000 and cash were stolen during a raid in Narre Warren on the weekend.
Two shops in Rebound Court were broken into, between 6pm and 9am on 24 September.
Police said the doors of the shops were forced open with either a large screwdriver or jimmy bar.
One of the stores, Aussie Spices, also had about $2000 worth of international phone cards stolen.
Vinnie Gammampila from Aussie Spices said the CCTV footage from the store which was handed to police showed people attempting to break into several stores that evening.
She said the incident has prompted the staff to be more cautious.
“We have a security gate – we don’t know how it happened,” she said.
“We have been here for six years and never been broken into so we were all shocked. I think we are going to have to take extra safety precautions now.”
Ms Gammampila warned people to be cautious when buying phone cards from a person rather than from in a store.
“They took things they could resell – laptops, phone cards. There were 205 phone cards that can only be used for international calls,” she said.
“If people are approached by someone selling the international phone cards at a cheap price, they should contact the police.”
The person depicted on CCTV footage was medium height, thin and was wearing a white hooded top and a baseball cap.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Detective Senior Constable Simon Watts on 9705 3111 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.