Bayside family victim to two horror house invasions within 24 hours

A petrified mother believes her Black Rock rental property was “cased” by a group of thugs before they stole four of her family’s luxury cars while they were asleep.

A Bayside mother believes her house was “cased” by a group of thugs before they stole four of her family’s luxury cars while they were asleep.

Lisa Pastore, her husband Tony and her two daughters fell victim to two terrifying home invasions within 24-hours in May last year.

The first time occurred when three men broke into their Black Rock rental property about 4.30am while they were sleeping.

The men crept down the side of the house, broke the backdoor, stole a bunch of keys and fled the scene with three cars including a Mercedes, Range Rover and Audi.

Lisa and Tony Pastore were victims of two home invasions while they were renting in Black Rock last year. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

CCTV footage of the home invasion in Black Rock. Picture Supplied

Ms Pastore said she believed the men had “cased” the house prior to the burglary after watching their movements on CCTV footage.

“Casing” is when thieves watch a property to identify the best time and location to break-in.

“It was like they had been there before,” Ms Pastore said.

“The way they swaggered up the side, they looked like they were walking around their own house.

“They were definitely targeting prestigious cars.”

Ms Pastore said she changed her locks and disabled the family’s remaining car but the men returned the next day and stole it.

“For them to have the audacity to come back the next day, it’s shocking,” she said.

“We were petrified. They would have walked past one of my daughter’s bedrooms to get the keys.”

Ms Pastore said the two home invasions put her family on edge.

“We literally couldn’t sleep, we were awake every second,” she said.

“Any time we heard a little noise, everyone would jump out of bed and run downstairs.”

It comes as the Herald Sun revealed last week a scourge in the number of violent home invasions.

In 2015, there were about 2300 break-ins compared to almost 5000 last year.

Ms Pastore said she believed one of the men were on bail at the time of the second break-in.

“Our bail laws are terrible,” she said

“They just get a slap on the wrist then they are out back on the streets again to steal cars.”

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