Toowoomba family left terrified after brazen thieves caught on CCTV stealing car

A Toowoomba family of five has been left feeling violated after two thieves broke into their home and stole their car while they were asleep. Watch the shocking video here.

In the space of only eight minutes, two “brazen” thieves broke into the home of a Toowoomba family and stole their car while the family slept, leaving them feeling violated and terrified.

Mother-of-three Kodie Saroa, 32, was woken in the early hours of Tuesday morning to her husband telling her their family car had been stolen.

The couple discovered the offenders had broken into their house by slicing a hole in the security screen of their back door, allowing them to unlock it from the outside.

After reviewing the security camera footage, which captured the theft of their blue Nissan X-Trail from their Harlaxton property, the pair called the police to report it missing.

The video showed the offenders attempting to open the doors of the family’s two cars with no success.

They then walked down the side of the house, broke into the family’s home and grabbed Ms Saroa’s handbag, which contained her keys and wallet from the kitchen.

Both offenders then proceed to walk out the front door, steal the car and drive off.

In the space of only eight minutes, two brazen thieves broke into the house of a Toowoomba family and stole their car while the family slept, leaving them feeling violated and terrified.

Ms Saroa said the offenders were so quiet that she, as well as her husband, three children, pet dog and a guest who was staying with the family at the time, all remained asleep during the ordeal.

She said while not having the family car to travel with her three children had been a huge inconvenience and she would ultimately like the car returned, she was more concerned for her family’s welfare.

“They walked straight past our bedroom which is absolutely horrifying,” Ms Saroa said.

“(The security footage) shows they got here at 12.07am and they were gone by 12.15am … that’s eight minutes.

“As a mother, your head goes to really terrible places and I’m just thankful no one was hurt.

“To be honest I wish I had left my car unlocked because for me the worst part of this is that these people were in our home and we had no idea.”

Despite her wallet also being stolen, Ms Saroa said the offenders had not attempted to use her bank cards before she cancelled them.

Members of the public have also been in touch to notify her of possessions which the offenders have allegedly rummaged through before dumping the items in various parts of Toowoomba.

A Toowoomba family have been left feeling violated and terrified after two offenders stole their car and broke into their house.

The opportunistic attack comes after the region was struck by a series of offending in recent weeks, including a shopping centre assault and stabbing in the middle of Toowoomba’s CBD.

“We felt very insecure in our home last night – we’re essentially Fort Knox now,” Ms Saroa said.

“My partner wants to take our security to the extreme now and we’re considering installing a tall fence out the front, but I hate to think that’s what we’re coming to – I don’t want to live this way.

“I’ve lived in Toowoomba all my life and we’ve had crime here before but with everything that’s happened here in the last few weeks, it doesn’t even sound like Toowoomba, which is a bit sad.”

The Harlaxton resident said she believed lenient court sentencing and the watch houses being too full were two of the biggest issues needing solutions.

“The people committing these crimes are just so brazen and even now they are blatantly driving around in my car committing other offences,” Ms Saroa said.

“I’m glad I’m not the person making the (legal) decisions but when is this (crime) going to stop? It’s a joke.”

The mum of three said while most people had been empathetic about the situation, it was a timely reminder for the community to not blame victims of crime.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said the incident was being investigated.

“Initial investigations indicate that two men gained entry to the house and stole a number of items, as well as a blue Nissan X-Trail,” the spokesman said.

“Investigations are ongoing. There is no further information available.”

Data from RACQ revealed Toowoomba had the highest number of car thefts based on postcodes last year, followed by Cairns and Townsville.

The figures showed insurance claims for stolen vehicles reached $30.5m in 2022, increasing by 35 per cent when compared to 2021.

RACQ also recorded about 1700 claims for stolen vehicles last year – a rise by at least 21 per cent.

“Insurance premiums are based upon the likely risk of damage and the costs associated with repairing or replacing a damaged item, including a property or vehicle,” an RACQ spokeswoman said.

“In the case of motor insurance, a small component of this includes the risks associated with theft of the vehicle, but it’s not the overriding factor.

“Motor insurance premiums may be higher for areas where incidents occur more often, or repairs are more expensive.”

Originally published as Toowoomba family left terrified after brazen thieves caught on CCTV stealing car