By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A BERWICK man who was left shattered by his home being invaded by a carload of burglars is getting even by organising a grass-roots crime-prevention meeting.
The man ‘Brett’, who does not want to be identified, said his family intends to move out of its Beaumont Waters housing estate due to the aggravated burglary on the night of 13 August.
He is still shaken to think at least one intruder had walked past his and his children’s bedrooms just after midnight.
“I can’t sleep. My children can’t sleep. I have a golf club and a cricket bat next to my bed.
“I don’t want to think about some violent bloke coming in to hurt my kids.”
The intruder had taken off their shoes outside, walked through the unlocked rear door of the adjoining garage and not woken the family dog until he’d got most of the way through the house.
“The dog scared them.
“I heard them in the garage and I thought they were breaking in. There was a car load of them out the front.
“It wasn’t until an hour later when the police came in and found my wife’s handbag and car keys out the back. That’s when I realised they must have got in.”
Brett said several other homes in his street were broken into on the same night.
Burglars stole items from a garage as the householders were in their lounge room at 9.30pm that night, he said.
He’s learnt the hard way to lock all the doors and switch on his security alarms.
Brett’s motivation for the meeting is not to promote a vigilante response, nor to have it politicised, but just for the community “look out” for one another.
“People aren’t aware of the extent of these crimes. It has become an epidemic and we don’t think it will happen to us.
“Pay attention to what’s happening at your neighbour’s house as well as our own security.”
“It’s so much bigger than just the Apex Gang. There’s all these other little gangs trying to out-do each other every night and posting their stolen cars on Facebook.”
One of the meeting’s guests is Casey councillor Louise Berkelmans who was a victim of a theft at her Cranbourne North home last weekend.
Tools were taken from her husband’s locked-up car in their driveway. Several neighbours suffered the same fate, on the same night, she said.
“The only thing we can do as a community is to be aware and responsible.”
The event is gathering momentum, with a Casey Residents Crime Prevention Gathering page on Facebook – with more than 400 expressions of interest since 22 August.
The event includes police, Neighbourhood Watch members, and experts on alarms, security door, and self-defence.
The meeting will be held at Sweeney Reserve, Berwick, on Saturday 10 September at 2pm.
For more information visit Casey Residents Crime Prevention Gathering at facebook.com/events/1177518218978763.
