‘Hard to sleep in your own house’: Mornington Peninsula residents ‘terrified’ amid brutal crime wave

Residents of the southern suburbs have detailed the horrifying moments they were targeted by armed offenders as an onslaught of break-ins and burglaries sweeps the peninsula.

Home invasions and burglaries have risen to alarming new levels in the Mornington Peninsula. Picture: Stock

Mornington Peninsula residents are in the midst of a brutal crime wave that is seeing home invasions and burglaries rising to alarming new levels.

The ritzy southern suburbs have been smashed by armed offenders breaking into homes and stealing cars that residents closer to Melbourne are all too familiar with.

Fresh crime data shows residential aggravated burglaries across the peninsula rose more than 17 per cent while vehicle thefts soared nearly 30 per cent over the past 12 months.

Aggravated robberies increased more than doubled and stealing from a retail store jumped more than 70 per cent.

Overall crimes committed across the peninsula spiked 22 per cent with Mornington, Rosebud, Hastings, Rye and Somerville the hardest in recent times.

The rate of residential aggravated burglaries has risen more than 17 per cent across the peninsula.

One Mt Eliza resident, who fell victim to a “terrifying” home invasion in August, said he and his wife are still haunted by the moment two teenagers armed with machetes entered their bedroom.

He said the two teenage offenders, who were dressed in all black, entered through a dog door before storming into his bedroom to demand sets of car keys.

He said the armed pair found two sets of keys before making off with two luxury cars.

“They came into the bedroom waving a machete as long as your arm, it was absolutely unbelievable,” he said.

“They were barking ‘where are they keys, where are the keys?’.

“We were both pretty messed up.

“It’s so hard to sleep in your own house to be honest.”

Peninsula residents have been left ‘terrified’ after a spate of home invasions in the area. Picture: Stock

Sorrento local Liz Jensen, whose home was ransacked by thieves just last week, said she felt a “punch in the guts” when she returned home to find her favourite belongings had disappeared.

Ms Jensen said the crooks had forced their way in through the back door before rummaging around her belongings, stealing cherished clothes, handbags and jewellery.

She said she became physically sick when she saw her home was a complete mess inside.

“There was not a thing left untouched,” she said.

“It was devastating, it feels like a punch in the guts.

“I thought I lived in a bubble of security but I don’t. I’ll never forget it.”

Mornington MP Chris Crewther said victims were reporting distressing levels of crime and are now taking further steps to secure their homes.

He said the police station at Mornington having its reception hours cut from 24 to 16 hours a day was an ongoing worry.

“I have been contacted an ever-increasing amount in respect to home invasions and aggravated home burglaries, people being threatened with machetes, having their homes broken into,” he said.

Victoria Police’s Operation Trinity have so far arrested 673 offenders nearly 1550 times who stole a car during an aggravated burglary.

Almost two thirds of those offenders were children aged 10 to 17.