Cars stolen in Buderim, Peregian Springs as police reveal crime trends

A nightclub owner faces a hefty bill after two cars were stolen as police reveal a youth crime trend fuelled by social media is still attracting car thieves to the Sunshine Coast.

A Sunshine Coast nightclub owner who has had two cars stolen from his home in the past six months has offered a reward for information regarding the latest incident.

The reward offer comes as Sunshine Coast police continue to crack down on youths who travel to the region to steal high-end vehicles for social media bragging rights.

In the early hours of March 30, Post Office Hotel owner John Calcino’s home was allegedly broken into and a group nabbed his car keys before taking off with his distinctive Landcruiser.

The incident took place downstairs, with three dogs in the house and Mr Calcino and his three adult sons upstairs.

It is the second car stolen from Mr Calcino’s Buderim residence in six months.

John Calcino has had two cars stolen from his home within six months with both cars recovered but massive out-of-pocket expenses to replace keys and locks. Picture: Patrick Woods.

One of his son’s cars, a Ford Ranger ute with a locked trailer full of tools, was also allegedly stolen in December 2021 but was abandoned across a driveway.

“The car had a big trailer and they realised it wasn’t a very good getaway car about 700m from my place,” Mr Calcino said.

The Landcruiser with a black wrap and bright pink number plates was found in Coolum Beach, on a suburban street, about five hours after it was stolen with blood on the backseat and no car keys.

Since the latest incident, Mr Calcino changed the locks on his home had new car keys made, which despite having insurance cost him about $9000.

The keys to his venue were also on the stolen car key ring.

It was this out-of-pocket expense that prompted him to offer a $5000 reward for any information that may lead to arrests.

John Calcino is offering a $5000 reward for any information about who may have stolen his vehicle. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“My son also got his car keys stolen so he had to do the same thing to his car,” Mr Calcino said.

“It’s a very expensive exercise.”

The nightclub owner said the home invasion was less worrying than the blood on the backseat of his car.

“I didn’t know if they got a knife out of my kitchen,” Mr Calcino said.

While he hopes the reward offer will uncover new information, in the meantime Mr Mr Calcino plans to install motion-activated cameras and an alarm system.

Peregian Springs woman Mari Pye also had her Nissan Dualis SUV stolen overnight on April 18 as she and her four children slept.

She said she could only assume that whoever took her car came in through the back door of her home to find the car keys.

Her vehicle was found in Mt Coolum, torched, about five hours after it was reported stolen.

“The possibility they may have come into the house is so scary,” Ms Pye said.

Number of stolen cars on the Sunshine Coast

Police recorded a spike of more than 50 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences in March on the Sunshine Coast, compared to 39 this month and 29 in February.

A total of 129 offences of that nature have been recorded on the Sunshine Coast since the end of January.

Police were investigating after a suspected stolen four-wheel drive was found in a lake near Albany St in Sippy Downs on March 1.

In March 2022, 39 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences were recorded and 36 in April.

Unlawful entry offences have been dropping since February, from more than 100 offences in that month to 81 so far in April.

Crime trends

Sunshine Coast property crime unit Detective Sergeant Tim Byrnes said there was a “crime trend” of which police were aware.

“There’s a category of youths that do travel from other south-east Queensland areas that will travel in order to target high-end luxury or distinctive cars,” he said.

“And this cohort often promotes their exploits through their social media platforms.”

He said it was a well-documented trend.

“We’re still seeing some of that but it’s not rampant and the government is addressing it,” Sergeant Byrnes said.

Last year, dedicated social media pages glorifying South East Queensland’s youth crime crisis containing footage of children stealing sports cars, driving recklessly and taunting police emerged.

Dedicated anonymous profiles with videos glorifying Queensland's youth crime crisis emerged on TikTok last year.

The police officer said for those who invested in luxury vehicles, investing in a CCTV system for their home was also a good idea.

“The standard and quality of the vision we’re seeing now, we only need one single image,” Sergeant Byrnes said.

He said there was another group of older “more hardened” criminals who were stealing cars and number plates too.

“They’re not looking to stand out or broadcasting what they do on social media,” Sergeant Byrnes said.

The police officer said most vehicles these days were hard to steal without the keys so it was important to keep car keys safe.

“So people need to lock up their cars and then, if possible, hide their keys somewhere in the house,” Sergeant Byrnes said.

“The harder it is to find the less chance they’ll be able to steal their car.”

The detective said it was also important to share any CCTV with police “first and foremost” because the police had a broad network and advanced electronic evidence storage they could access.

“There’s a natural tendency for people to be their own detectives because they’re emotionally invested but we’ve all got to work together,” Sergeant Byrnes said.