Roxburgh Park crook Thomas Toma jailed for $140,000 shopping centre crime spree
A Roxburgh Park teen knocked over high-value scores — like De Niro in Heat — then blew his dough on Dolce & Gabbana.
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A brazen teen who knocked over multiple shopping centres, smashing his way into the complexes stealing more than $140,000 in cash and cigarettes has been jailed.
Thomas Toma, 20, was sentenced in the County Court on Thursday to a minimum two years and three months’ jail after pleading guilty to 51 charges including numerous theft, burglary and criminal damage offences.
Toma, 19 at the time, hit 16 stores at various Melbourne shopping centres between December 2019 and January 20 last year.
The teenage hood, who worked with two accomplices, also caused more than $50,000 in damage during his almost month-long rampage.
Toma and his gang mobilised four stolen cars, including a Mercedes and a Porsche, to speed between their early-morning burglaries.
Toma used a sledgehammer to smash the stores’ doors, often having to break through the entrance to the shopping centre first, before he and a co-offender went straight to the office or safe.
Toma took down his biggest score after he raided Roxburgh Village’s TSG tobacco store on January 11 and fled with a safe containing $55,470 worth of cigarettes and $10,730 cash.
Toma fled with a safe containing $42,151 cash and smokes worth $15,585 from Roxburgh Park store Freshplus the next day.
Toma and his crew also targeted TSG stores in East Keilor, Oak Park and Craigieburn Central, Flight Centre stores at Northcote Plaza and Broadmeadows Shopping Centre, Home Bargains and Money Exchange at Roxburgh Park and Tobacco Station at Ferntree Gully Plaza.
Toma sometimes fled empty-handed after he was unable to get into the safes at several targets.
The court heard Toma attempted to mask his identity from CCTV cameras by wearing inside-out hoodies, his pants backwards and t-shirts wrapped around his face.
The junior Neil McCauley — the Robert De Niro villain from heist movie Heat — also wore socks over his shoes to avoid leaving shoe impressions.
The court heard Toma, who put in a “significant amount of planning to the heists”, was nabbed with videos of an IGA Greensborough employee showing where the safe was in the store’s office.
The video was taken prior to Toma and his gang knocking over the store and stealing the contents of the safe with ease.
Police also found a video of Toma, who has never had a licence, driving a stolen Mercedes at more than 190km/h through residential streets.
The luxury vehicle had been used as a getaway car.
Police arrested Toma and searched his family’s Roxburgh Park home on January 23 but the artful dodger had already wiped his phone.
Toma’s lawyer said her client had struggled with drug use and was paid by others to commit the crimes.
The court also heard Toma wanted to “be cool” and initially used the cash from his crimes on clothing, particularly Dolce & Gabbana clothing.
But Judge Paul Higham, who said wanting things was “not an attractive value”, could not accept Toma was simply “a soldier”.
“You’re not much good as a criminal, ‘cause you keep on getting caught, don’t you?,” Judge Higham said.
“Yes, your honour,” Toma replied.
The court was told the commercial cleaning company Toma had worked for in 2019 collapsed right before his crime spree.
Toma, who had spent 399 days in custody, was jailed for a maximum four years.
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