Ipswich crime spike: Cars stolen and smeared with dog food, egg, fairy sprinkles

‘This is not normal’: Ipswich residents in a select few suburbs have woken to find a grotesque mixture and gang graffiti splashed across their cars as the district suffers a crime spike.

A spike in car thefts has gripped the Ipswich region with at least one vehicle stolen each day, however a spate of grotesque vandalism incidents has surprised authorities.

Two different cars in two different suburbs allegedly covered in a damaging mixture of egg, beans, dog food, and sprinkles.

At the beginning of July, an Augustine Heights resident and a Redbank Plains resident woke to find their car covered in a mixture of dog food, baked beans, egg, and topped with fairy sprinkles.

A few weeks prior, two cars belonging to another Ipswich local were tagged with spray-paint with the words, ‘Westside’, ‘NS’, and ‘4305’ written on the bonnet and windows.

The elderly resident said the vandals had to walk down quite a long driveway before painting the cars which were parked in a car port.

Ipswich crime prevention co-ordinator Sergeant Nadine Webster said the tags may belong to a gang known to police and that the unusual vandalism incidents were happening in conjunction with other car related crimes in the area.

“This is totally unique … it’s not something to be taken lightly,” she said.

“It is wilful damage because of some of the ingredients on the paint, if it’s left for a long period of time, it can cause permanent damage.

“It is quite serious, cars are very expensive these days – nobody wants their vehicles damaged unnecessarily.”

Alleged gang tags on a North Ipswich residents car in June, 2022. Picture: Contributed

Sergeant Webster said car vandalism created an expensive and inconvenient ripple effect within the community and car theft can lead to further offences.

At Brassall last night, July 7, a police spokeswoman said an allegedly stolen Alfa Romeo was involved in a crash just before 8pm.

As a result, two children and two adults were taken to Queensland Children’s Hospital but did not require admission.

Sergeant Webster said the thefts and vandalism happened across the district and, “they’re not necessarily focused on a particular suburb, division, or street”.

“We aren’t exactly sure what (the car theft spike) is attributed to at the moment, police are definitely investigating the reported offences but it does appear we do have somebody active in our community at the moment,” she warned.

Ipswich Crime Prevention Unit Sergeant Nadine Webster is urging the Ipswich community to secure their property and report any suspicious activity, or crime (big or small) to Policelink on 13 14 44. Picture: David Nielsen / The Queensland Times

According to Queensland Police statistics, in June police responded to 53 reports of stolen vehicles, and 425 during the first six months of the year — which generally accounts for two cars stolen each day.

City and regional suburbs like Rosewood are being targeted, however a higher volume of cars are reported stolen from the Ipswich CBD and surrounding suburbs (143), Goodna/Camira (100), Redbank Plains (37), and Springfield (27).

Sergeant Webster said there were a number of things people could do to safeguard their cars which included; taking all valuables out of cars, parking within your property, in well-lit areas if on a street.

“The majority of unlawful entry of motor vehicles recently is from people leaving their cars unlocked, unsecured, and also leaving valuables in the car,” she said.

“If we don’t lock our vehicles it lends itself to opportunistic crime — it just takes seconds for someone to get in if it’s not locked and it makes no sound.

“Members of the community need to be mindful and think about where they park their cars and remember that wherever you are, lock your car, keep the doors and windows locked even on private property.”