Burleigh under siege: Teens wreak havoc, female workers afraid to walk to cars alone

Burleigh business owners say it’s ‘only a matter of time’ before someone gets badly hurt, with frustration boiling over about the antics of teen gangs.

Business owners in Burleigh’s bustling James St shopping precinct say it is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt amid a wave of crime and intimidation in the area.

Retailers say they have been plagued for two years by threats and abuse by groups of mentally unstable and drug-addicted people who frequenting the formerly idyllic hub.

Shop owners also report being targeted with abuse and intimidation by gangs of juveniles, with one closing their store for a full week before Christmas due to extreme stress it caused them.

“It’s out of control,” one shop owner said. “Someone’s going to get hurt, a member of the public, it’s only a matter of time.

“They’ll pick on the wrong bloke’s girlfriend and they’ll react and someone’s going to get really badly hurt here.

“It’s disgusting what’s happening.”

James Street in Burleigh Heads. Picture: Glenn Campbell.

No store owners spoken to by the Bulletin wanted to be named, such is the fear and harassment they are experiencing.

They described how juveniles would steal food items from a local Woolworths supermarket not to consume them, but smash them on the ground and against the windows of businesses.

They also said youths would regularly enter the businesses to harass owners and customers, with one business owner subjected to a frightening incident as she was closing her store only last week.

“The kids are playing games of mental intimidation and harassment,” one shop owner said.

“They know they’re not going to get into trouble for it so it keeps happening.

“They’re walking into Woolies, stealing whatever they can and then throwing it everywhere.

“They’re not stealing because they’re hungry. Not all of these kids are from broken homes.”

Store owners say gangs of teenagers have been causing havoc in the area.

One store owner working in the area for more than 20 years said it was only in the last two-and-a-half-to-three years the problems had taken off.

“This crap never used to go on,” they said. “Now it’s non stop.

“This is Burleigh. It’s not something I ever thought would have happened here.”

While the business owners were mostly happy with the police response to incidents, they are strongly backing calls for a permanent police beat in the area, believing it was the only way the problem could be fully tackled.

FEMALE WORKERS AFRAID TO WALK TO THEIR CARS ALONE

Women working in the heart of Burleigh’s bustling James St shopping precinct say they are terrified walking to their cars after dark, with some small business owners closing their doors early out of fear for their own safety.

Retailers say the bustling shopping area has been plagued in the last two years by a growing crime problem driven by groups of mentally unstable and drug-addicted people who frequent the area.

One worker in a beauty salon said while the abuse was constant, the problems reached a terrifying new low in late March when she was stalked by a man who appeared “possessed” as she made her way back to her vehicle.

“It happened to me when I was leaving at ten to six,” she said.

“A guy followed me the whole way. Like he was on a real mission.

“I walked out of work and he was walking towards me. He gave me this glare, this kind of look.

“Every time I turned around and looked he was following me with this look in his eye.

“I was parked right at the top of the hill and I was like, I can’t go up there now.

“I had to ring my dad, because I was that scared and I was shaking.

“It was if he was possessed. Out to hurt a woman. That is what it was like.”

Female workers in shops on James St and surrounding streets say they are afraid to walk to their cars alone after a number of troubling incidents. Picture: Glenn Campbell.

The woman later learned that the man had caused trouble outside a another business on James St the previous day, abusing women and forcing staff to lock their doors.

She has now changed her routine, making sure to move her car to paid parking close to her workplace before dark. However the frightening incidents have also occurred in the middle of the day.
“Last week I went to move my car, it was probably between 3.30 and four o’clock when I had a break between clients,” she said.

“There was a guy on Park Ave, and he was definitely on whatever he was on, absolute disgrace, couldn’t even walk.

“But he was scary, he was dangerous. And that was 3.30 in the afternoon.

“I’ve lived here for 10 years and I’ve never seen it like it has been.

“Sometimes I feel like we’re living in Venice Beach with all the drug addicts and homeless around.”

Women have told the Bulletin they no longer feel safe walking alone in the area.

Female workers in the area are now organising walking groups so they do not have to go to their cars alone. They have also started a petition calling for a police beat in the busy shopping precinct.

Another small business owner, who works alone, said she had begun closing her store early so she could leave before it got dark, preferring to take a hit to her business rather than risk her personal safety.

Calls for a police beat have also been backed by Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy.

Senior officers have told the Bulletin that they are aware of growing issues in Burleigh, in part due to its booming night-life, and were pumping extra resources into the area. However they said a permanent police beat was not currently being considered.

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