Jason Xu’s warning after his Dynnyrne home was targeted by thieves
A Hobart father has warned others to be vigilant after his home was targeted by thieves. Watch the CCTV.
Tasmania
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A Hobart father whose home was targeted by thieves last week is warning others to be vigilant and stay connected, after he was shocked to see CCTV of three people attempting to break in.
Jason Xu and his young family were sound asleep in the early hours of Saturday morning, completely unaware of the group of trespassers.
It wasn’t until his son Ryan, 11, noticed something unusual the next day that the family learned what had unfolded.
“My son realised our garage door was open, initially we thought it was wind, with the windy weather,” Mr Xu said.
“My son checked the videos, he told me the three were breaking into our property.”
Vision obtained from two of Mr Xu’s cameras show three figures, wearing balaclavas, lurking around cars at the front of the property.
After trying both cars, the trio then try their luck with the front door, before turning back.
“Initially it felt pretty weird (to see the vision), you don’t expect somebody to break in,” Ryan said.
“Just a second after I realised it was some people, I was like ‘that’s not right’.
“I told my dad and we called the police.”
Mr Xu said the men were successful in breaking into one of the cars, making off with some items.
“They took my old wallet, with some of my credit cards and drivers licence, they took my son’s walkie talkie, one of my old mobiles, I think they realised it was not useful so they just broke it,” he said.
“It’s very scary, the most scary part is they didn’t only take the stuff from the car, they tried to break into my garage and they took the risk to go up to my house.
I’ve got two kids.
“I’ve been in Australia for 20 years but I never had anything happen like this.
“I never thought this would happen in this suburb in this neighbourhood.”
Mr Xu said he wasn’t alone in his experience.
“When I put it on Facebook and social media, I realised I’m not the only one, one of my friends has recently lost his motorbike in the same suburb,” he said.
“Also in our community lots of people have lost their stuff.”
He said others needed to be aware of the basic ways to protect themselves.
“I think making sure to lock doors for the house and to lock the car and maybe put in video surveillance,” he said.
“The other thing that will be handy, they’re working on is Neighbourhood Watch for this street.
“We have a very good community, people care about each other, our neighbours, we talk to each other.”
Police have charged two men, a 23-year-old and a 21-year-old, in relation to the vehicle burglary.
“This is a social problem, it’s not an individual problem,” Mr Xu said.
“I really hope the community can help those guys through education”
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Originally published as Jason Xu’s warning after his Dynnyrne home was targeted by thieves