Bruce Tille and Dawn Ede facing fresh stealing and dishonesty charges at Wollongong

A crime couple allegedly smashed into a car and pinched a MasterCard – causing hundreds of dollars of damage – in order to get their hands on some smokes and a Big Mac, a court has heard.

Dawn Ede and Bruce Tille allegedly broke into a car in an underground carpark on Burelli St, Wollongong. Picture: Google Maps

A couple of convicted crooks have been denied bail after another set of alleged offending which included pocketing a young girl’s iPhone.

Dawn Ede, 40, and Bruce Lee Tille, 43, are both facing two sets of charges including two counts of larceny and two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The alleged incidents took place a month after the couple were sentenced to intensive correction orders (a jail sentence served in the community) for breaking into a construction site in the early hours of Christmas Day 2021.

Documents tendered in court during their respective bail applications state CCTV captured the pair breaking into a Land Rover parked in an underground lot on Burelli St, Wollongong, on the night of April 18.

It is alleged the passenger window was smashed in and a MasterCard was stolen from the car’s centre console.

In the following few hours the card was allegedly used four times including two $30 transactions at 7-Eleven West Wollongong, a $34 spend at 7-Eleven Unanderra and $28 at McDonald’s Figtree.

The alleged incident was reported to police the following morning with the owner of the vehicle noticing the alleged unauthorised transactions on their online banking account.

The court documents state police managed to obtain CCTV from the parking lot as well as 7-Eleven Unanderra and Figtree McDonald’s.

Dawn Ede allegedly used tap-and-go payments to obtain the Macca’s feed. Picture: Facebook

Police allege the footage depicts the accused purchasing tobacco from the service station and a large Big Mac meal, two cheeseburgers and a large coke from the Macca’s.

The court documents state the damage to the Land Rover was accompanied by a $680 repair bill.

The other alleged incident occurred a week later at Wollongong train station where a teenage girl momentarily left her iPhone 12 on a bench.

Documents state Tille and Ede approached the bench with the former allegedly picking up the iPhone and passing it to the latter who pocketed it.

The teenage girl realised her phone was missing and contacted police who inspected the footage and recognised the alleged offenders who were arrested at a Bent St, Warrawong, address that afternoon.

Police were able to identify Bruce Tille due to his distinctive tattoos. Picture: Facebook

Ede and Tille have pleaded not guilty to all four charges and during Ede’s bail application the court heard she was four months pregnant and receiving treatment for cancer.

However, Magistrate Gabriel Fleming said she could not accept that as a reason to grant Ede bail because there was no evidence – such as a medical certificate – to prove it.

“If she had some medical evidence she may well be in a different position,” Ms Fleming said.

During Tille’s bail application the court heard he allegedly picked up the phone and gave it to Ede with the belief it was hers.

Ms Fleming denied him bail and the pair will return to court later this month.