Three homes in Dandenong targets of late night aggravated burglaries
THIEVES snatched bank cards and phones in a series of aggravated burglaries in Dandenong and spent almost $1500 in Coles, Kmart and Officeworks.
South East
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THIEVES snatched bank cards in a spate of aggravated burglaries last weekend in Dandenong and spent almost $1500.
They broke into three homes in Cleeland, Masters and Hutton streets between 10.45pm on Saturday night and 5.30am on Monday morning.
The biggest haul came on January 21 between 3am and 7.30am when someone walked into a lounge room and bedroom of the Masters St home while two men slept inside.
The men, aged 31 and 36, remained asleep while the crook took three Apple iPhones, a Samsung Galaxy and a wallet containing bank cards.
About 7pm the same day one of the cards was used three times at Dandenong Coles for amounts of $95, $44 and $86.
Dandenong Crime Investigation Unit Senior Constable Blake Gilbert said another three purchases were attempted about 10 minutes later but Commonwealth Bank blocked the transactions due to suspicious activity.
Detectives are analysing Coles CCTV to determine the offender’s identity.
Bank cards were again stolen and used when the Hutton St house was raided about 4am on January 22.
Sen-Constable Gilbert said the burglar removed the flyscreen of the kitchen window to get in to the share house, stealing the iPhone 7 and wallet of a 43-year-old man while he and the other four occupants slept.
The victim contacted his bank later that day to cancel his cards and was told $950 had been withdrawn from an ATM in Dandenong and they’d also been used five times to the value of $318 at Coles in Narre Warren and Officeworks and Kmart at Fountain Gate shopping centre.
In another incident on January 20, a man ransacked a Cleeland St five-person share house after forcing his way through the flyscreen of a bedroom window about 10.45pm.
He was disturbed by a 38-year-old Dandenong man and fled with a Samsung phone. The victim was unable to give a description of the intruder.
Sen-Constable Gilbert said police were investigating if there’s a link between the burglaries.
Information to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.