The city ‘living in fear’ as youth crime wave plays out on TikTok

Out-of-control children as young as 10 are breaking into homes, fuelling a wave of vehicle thefts committed “for fun”. They steal cars to race them, trash them, set them on fire … and film it all. WATCH the video here.

Children as young as 10 are breaking into homes in order to steal cars in the central west city of Dubbo, with local police and residents “living in fear” from out of control youths posting their crimes on TikTok.

Police say the influx of home invasions is being driven by children and teenagers attempting to get hold of car keys, as new cars are too hard to hot-wire.

Local police believe the wave of vehicle thefts are being committed “for fun” with little thought of financial benefit, as out of control kids steal cars to race them, trash them and then set them on fire.

Motor vehicle thefts and break and enters have increased in Dubbo by more than 15 per cent over the last five years with break and enters increasing by more than 13 per cent according to data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics.

From the year up to September 2023, an average of almost six cars were stolen per week.

An epidemic of vehicle theft in Dubbo sees children as young as 10 stealing cars and posting videos of their criems on TikTok. Stills from the videos showing a care being stolen, left, a police chase, centre, and a stolen car being skidded around a dry paddock, right. Pictures: Supplied

In January this year, a child believed to be as young as 10 stole a white Toyota Camry during a home invasion of an elderly woman in Dubbo.

Driving recklessly, the child then crashed it and went headfirst into the windscreen, which cracked outwards.

The streets of Dubbo in early evening. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The child managed to escape, with police investigating whether the child could be as young as 10, based on the size of handprints left in the car.

Lewis Richards, owner of Geoff Richards Panel Beating was sent the smashed up car to fix, and estimated the job to cost $20,000.

“The ignition has been pulled apart and they snapped the columns on the steering wheel – it actually had a steering lock on it and they tried driving it and crashed the vehicle while it had the steering lock on it,” he said.

Panel beating business owner Lewis Richards shows where a car was broken into. Picture: Rohan Kelly

Fingerprint dust on one of the many stolen cars brought to Mr Richard’s business. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“The kid wasn’t strapped in and ran into a culvert and you can see where his head cracked the windscreen from the inside back out.”

Mr Richard sees an average of two stolen and trashed cars per week, while some weeks he is inundated and can’t get through the backlog.

“It’s the same group from the same town all competing with each other on Instagram and TikTok,” he said.

TIKTOK POINT SYSTEM

“They’ve got a point rack system where you steal from here and you drive there and you get this many cops chasing you … it’s a street cred thing.”

Due to the difficulty of breaking into more advanced vehicles, many of the cars he gets haven’t successfully been stolen, instead they were trashed with glass smashed and panels kicked in.

During a two day special investigation in Dubbo, local police told The Daily Telegraph the increased difficulty in hot-wiring modern cars had contributed to rise in home invasions where gangs of youths went looking for car keys.

One local couple who wished to remain anonymous due to fears for their safety said a gang of youths in balaclavas had broken into their Dubbo home twice in December last year.

They were searching for car keys.

“It was 1am when they came into the house and stole the keys to my husband’s Ford Ranger and our wallets,” the local said.

“Two nights later they came back to get the car from the garage.

“We managed to scare them off and in the morning we could see their footprints in the dirt – they were the small footprints of child.”

“We’re living in fear here in Dubbo – I feel for people who live on their own.”

Commander of Orana Mid-West police district Superintendent Timothy Chinn said youth crime was significantly more serious than it had been in the last five years.

The Dubbo Police Station. Picture: Rohan Kelly

“Social media has played a big role in the last couple of years because they get that notoriety,” he said.

“It’s just for a joy ride.”

Local police sources said the majority of the crime in the area was caused by the same families, many of whom were multiple reoffenders.

“We keep arresting them and the courts keep letting them out,” one source said.

In the case of one 11-year-old boy from Dubbo who attended court for the 70th time last week on vehicle theft and robbery charges, one police source said multiple community outreach programs and diversionary methods had not worked on him and were not likely to.

It is understood the boy first started breaking the law when he was only nine years old and that many members of his family including his father had multiple convictions.

“At this point he needs to be taken off the streets,” one police source said.

“He’s a danger to the people in this town.”

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