By Brendan Rees
The leader of Casey Neighbourhood Watch is urging people to lock their cars after a recent spate of thefts from parked cars.
“We’ve had numerous reports in almost every area across Casey of young people walking down the street checking car doors, looking through windows,” Neighbourhood Watch Casey president Rob Ward said.
It comes after a Narre Warren couple said they felt terrified after their car was ransacked by bandits early on Tuesday 3 July.
The couple said they woke in shock after discovering their Toyota Kluger had been broken into while it was parked outside their garage in a court off Gilford Drive.
“There was nothing of value taken, it’s just that eerie feeling that someone is trying to trespass on your property,” the couple said, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by the culprits.
They said items were pulled out of various compartments in the car and strewn across the seats with some coins left on the ground.
“They just emptied the glove box, all the compartments; they were desperate.”
The couple said unfortunately the car had been left unlocked but didn’t expect the break-in to occur in their driveway.
The couple said their neighbour had tried to chase offenders with a weapon after their car was targeted on the same morning.
“We’ve been here for eight years and we’ve never had any problems,” they said but added: “It just feels like every couple of weeks there’s something happening.
“A couple of weeks ago we starting taking some things out for hard rubbish and we had a table out there which had a glass top and it was thrown upside down so the glass was shattered and our neighbour’s windscreen wipers were snapped off that night as well.”
Narre Warren police are investigating and are appealing to witnesses for information as its believed no security cameras captured any persons of interest.
According to recent crime statistics published in June, thefts from motor vehicles was one of the most common crimes reported in Casey City. The data recorded 2978 thefts from cars in the 12 months to March, up 33 per cent in 2015.
Meanwhile, Mr Ward said Neighbourhood Watch had been working closely with police and would be doing more work on educating the community to ensure residents locked their cars and removed any valuables “no matter where they are”.
He said most thieves broke into cars because they saw something they wanted inside and would break windows and damage locks in a matter of seconds.
“Why make it easy for them? Lock your day, take the valuables away.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
