Thomastown JB Hi-Fi burglary: Burg crew committed $224,000 heist before brazen escape
Two top suburban footballing brothers linked to the notorious Pettingill crime family were part of a burglary crew which stole electronics — including iPads and Apple Watches — worth $224,000 during an early-morning heist at Thomastown JB Hi-Fi.
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A burglary crew stole scored electronics worth $224,000 from a heist at Thomastown JB Hi-Fi before making a brazen getaway through Melbourne’s northwest.
Key players Nathan Carroll, 29, his brother Trent Wilson-Hickey, 22, and Joseph El-Khaled, 33, all pleaded guilty in the County Court on Thursday to charges including burglary.
The crew drove to the Thomastown JB Hi-Fi in a stolen Toyota Prado just before 2.30am on December 12 last year.
The burglars backed the car up to a ladder at the rear of the store, climbed up, cut a hole in the roof and jumped into the storeroom.
Two crooks spent an hour in the store collecting boxes which contained expensive electronics goods including iPads and Apple Watches.
The other crooks loaded the Prado with the boxes and drove away before returning shortly later to pack their next load of loot.
However, detectives patrolling the area stumbled onto the heist and called in the police helicopter which captured the sophisticated burglary on camera.
Police kept watch as the crew fleeced the Settlement Rd store and reloaded their stolen car.
Wilson-Hickey, who the court heard “took flight”, planted his foot on the gas and drove away when police moved in just before 4.30am.
Police deflated the tyres with road spikes but it barely slowed Wilson-Hickey.
The maniac sped through Melbourne’s northwest, sometimes driving on the wrong side of the road and running red lights, while being pursued by multiple police cars.
Crew members threw stolen items from the car into the path of pursuing police, the court heard.
The entire pursuit was captured by police helicopter.
Police called off the road pursuit at Roxburgh Park but the helicopter kept watch.
Wilson-Hickey, who also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving while pursued by police, dumped the car at a Craigieburn home.
The hoods fled on foot but were soon arrested.
Police, who recovered some of the stolen items from the rear of the Prado, returned $215,000 worth of items to JB Hi-Fi.
Investigators later searched Wilson-Hickey’s Westmeadows home and seized stolen car keys and a taser.
The court heard Carroll, of Brookfield, was a top footballer who won the 2017 best and fairest for Murchison-Toolamba Football Club while serving a jail sentence at Dhurringile Prison.
He joined Essendon Districts Football League Club Jacana Jaguars after being paroled at the end of 2017.
Wilson-Hickey, who also played at the Jaguars, submitted, via his lawyer, the support of his partner Nadine Pettingill should be a sentencing consideration.
Ms Pettingill — daughter of acquitted Walsh St police shooting suspect Trevor Pettingill — assured the court Wilson-Hickey would live with her and their children once released.
Her father is the youngest son of notorious crime family matriarch Kath Pettingill.
El-Khaled, of Westmeadows, studied at RMIT before working as a plumber.
The court heard he worked as a labourer for Boroondara Council after finishing a prior jail stint.
All three men have significant criminal priors.
Carroll has 20 prior convictions for burglary while his brother has a “chequered driving history” and burglary priors.
Judge Peter Lauritsen remanded all three men for sentencing on August 28.
A fourth unknown person allegedly involved in the burglary remains on the run.
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