Blackburn north shops rammed with stolen ute, cash taken

BRAZEN thieves have rammed a stolen ute into a Blackburn shopping centre, making off with thousands in hair straighteners and cash.

THIEVES used a stolen ute to ram into a Blackburn north shopping centre early this morning and then drove around inside smashing into the doors of several shops.

Whitehorse detective Acting Senior Sergeant Alisdair Farrell said the centre’s CCTV footage showed the two businesses that were hit — a hairdresser and an optometrist — were specifically targeted.

Doors to the newsagent were also rammed.

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The thieves crashed through the doors on the western side of the centre at 2.20am and were inside for eight to 10 minutes, but the crime was not reported to police until a passer-by noticed the damaged doors sometime later.

The thieves crashed through the doors on the western side of the centre at 2.20am.

“The two shops that were targeted appear to be the actual targets,” Sen-Sgt Farrell said.

“An ATM was damaged in the process but we don’t believe that was actually the target.”

They stole cash from both businesses and $4000 worth of hair straighteners from the salon.

Acting Sen-Sgt Farrell said there were staff at a bakery at the time but they didn’t hear anything over loud music being played.

He said police were appealing for any witnesses to the “very brazen” and “bold” crime.

They were also calling for anyone with information about the Nissan Navara ute, which police believe was stolen sometime yesterday afternoon in the Preston or North Melbourne area.

The centre’s doors were rammed by a stolen ute less than six weeks ago on August 29, when thieves stole cigarettes from the IGA supermarket.

Acting Sen-Sgt Farrell said police had no reason to believe the incidents were connected.

Ross Caia Hairdressing owner Ross Caia said he had “no idea” why thieves would target his salon.

He said the thieves mainly targeted expensive electrical styling equipment, as well as a small amount of cash from the till.

“They stole about 14 of our hair straighteners but I was surprised they left a whole heap behind,” Mr Caia said.

“They had the chance to steal a lot more,” he said.

Security cameras from the salon captured the moment the ute drives-by the shop before doing a U-turn and ploughing directly into the store. The footage then shows the men rifling through cupboards before using a crowbar to break into the till.

“They’ve caused a huge amount of damage, they’ve broken through my grill,”

“I’ve had to close the shop,” he said.

Mr Caia said he was shocked how “casually” the thieves conducted the robbery.

“They just waltzed in and walked out casually … it was very strange,” he said.

On top of the $200 in cash stolen and $4000 worth of equipment, he will have to pay to repair his cash register, the glass doors and suffer losing a day of business.

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