Thieves steal Adelaide United memorabilia, motorbike and more from Dario Fontanarosa’s hobby farm at Rostrevor
Thieves have targeted the Rostrevor farm of ex-Adelaide United chairman Dario Fontanarosa, stealing an entire trailer laden with equipment, motorbikes and football memorabilia.
SA News
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Thieves have stolen invaluable sporting and music memorabilia from ex Adelaide United chairman and prominent businessman Dario Fontanarosa, leaving him “burning”.
Police are investigating the robbery of his Rostrevor property earlier this week, which was captured on CCTV.
Two men were spotted on camera breaking into the shed on his Spring Gully Rd hobby farm about 4.30am on Monday.
Arriving in a Mitsubishi van and Toyota LandCruiser with roof racks, they drove away with a trailer they had filled with bikes, fridges, generators, tools, and football memorabilia from when Mr Fontanarosa’s time as the Adelaide United chairman, from 2006-2009.
“It’s all insured but the one that probably killed me the most was the Adelaide United memorabilia,” Mr Fontanarosa said.
“It probably only meant something to me. I’m burning, I’m so upset.”
Among the stolen memorabilia was a plaque from his time on the FIFA board in 2009, representing Australia for club football.
The trailer had SA registration plates S398TGU, and was hooked up to the Toyota LandCruiser.
They also stole a green Suzuki SL170 motorcycle, a signed Adelaide United shirt, a signed Italian World Cup-winning shirt from 2006 and a guitar signed by rock band KISS.
He said the thieves also took his children’s motorbikes, camping equipment, farm gear and even the model of a stadium he had proposed the State Government build in 2008 to boost Adelaide’s chances of gaining 2018 World Cup matches.
Mr Fontanarosa said noticed things weren’t right on Sunday, he said.
“We went to feed the animals, as we do every day, and we noticed something was wrong with the gate … someone had cut a big hole in the gate and then zip-tied it back up again.”
He said someone had painted over the security cameras during the “pre-planned” robbery.
After he returned to the property on Monday and checked the other security tapes, he reported the theft to police.
Now managing director for Australian Mining and Construction, SGF Group, and Fine Food Distributors, Mr Fontanarosa has owned the Rostrevor property for more than 15 years as a hobby farm.
His wife, Diana, and two kids Adrian, 18 and Deana, 16, are “devastated” by the mess the thieves have caused.
“That’s the horrible part … my family is scared and don’t want to go there anymore.”
Mr Fontanarosa is pleading the thieves to return the memorabilia.
“Bring that stuff back. And thank you very much for closing the gates, lucky the cows didn’t get out.”