Prestige cars taken in aggravated burglaries using keys snatched from houses
Luxury cars worth millions have been stolen by young offenders in an alarming crime spree in Melbourne’s suburbs as police plot new ways to catch thieves.
Police & Courts
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Young thieves have stolen more than $10m worth of cars in four months after walking through unlocked doors in Melbourne’s south and east.
The vehicles – mostly prestige models – were taken in aggravated burglaries using keys snatched from houses across a swath of suburbs being targeted by more than 100 teenage offenders.
The figures are from special night-time police operations run between September and January and indicate unsecured homes are the preferred target for the intruders.
Those operations – codenamed Bird and Fortress – have concentrated on intercepting suspicious vehicles on major roads running into areas targeted by mobile young offenders, saturating noted crime hot spots and carrying out bail compliance checks.
Numbers from Bird show 324 vehicles were stolen in aggravated burglaries on homes in the municipalities of Port Phillip, Stonnington, Kingston, Glen Eira, Bayside, Dandenong, Casey, Cardinia, Frankston and Mornington Peninsula.
Available data from three of those areas shows thieves got into houses via unlocked doors and windows in more than 60 per cent of cases.
Fortress statistics show 108 cars were stolen in aggravated burglaries in the council areas of Boroondara, Manningham, Monash and Whitehorse.
More than half of the intruders involved got in via unlocked doors and windows.
Although the state’s burglary rate is at its lowest for three decades, aggravated burglaries have continued to increase with unlocked entry points a key element for those wanting to get in and out with a set of car keys while their victims sleep.
Victoria Police intelligence indicates there is no confrontation in 95 per cent of cases and that intruders generally fled if disturbed by a homeowner or pet.
Officers from Bird made 249 arrests between September and January, laying 168 aggravated burglary charges against offenders aged 15 to 17.
Most had come from Greater Dandenong, Casey or Cardinia.
Investigators were able to recover 82 per cent of the vehicles stolen.
Insp. Nat Dollard of southern metro said while doors were the preferred method of entry, offenders also used doggie-doors to reach locks and removed flyscreens to get through windows.
“We do urge the community to ensure they are securing their property and vehicles,” Insp. Dollard said.
Sgt Jill McBain, who has run Fortress out of eastern district one, said officers were involved in all-night patrols, supported by members of the public order response team, the air wing and the dog squad, when required.
Many of the offenders had travelled from Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia and cars were stolen in just under 60 per cent of aggravated burglaries.
Officers recovered 89 of 108 stolen and made 100 arrests, resulting in 208 charges.
Sgt McBain said it was evident those involved in aggravated burglary wanted the easy option and that many of the would-be thieves moved onto another target if kept at bay by locks.
“They’re looking for unlocked doors, windows and garages,” she said.
Both Bird and Fortress are ongoing operations.
‘Scourge of the suburbs’
Melbourne’s legion of teen car thieves go to work when we go to sleep.
For almost a decade, they have been a scourge of the suburbs, sneaking into houses to steal prestige motor vehicles while their victims are out to it.
And there are ample targets available.
A recent operation found that around 60 per cent of aggravated burglaries in Glen Eira, Kingston and Stonnington were carried out after perpetrators got into unlocked houses.
While there is no confrontation in the vast majority of cases, the high-level of community concern about the violation of homes is undoubted.
Detectives have made more than 350 arrests of child burglars in the past four months as part of dedicated operations targeting aggravated burglaries in the southeast and inner-east.
This was on top of 1351 arrests and 2965 charges laid by officers attached to the well-established Alliance, which scrutinises more hard-core young offenders linked to gangs.
Dusk-to-dawn mobile patrols have been run under operations dubbed Bird and Fortress.
Ten police units are working every night in the south and southeast areas under Bird.
Members are concentrating on major arterial roads and freeways to intercept and disrupt a new generation of offenders who think nothing of crossing Melbourne, usually in stolen vehicles, to commit more crimes.
“We’re out there in force on the main arterials. That’s really an area that’s a strong focus for us,” Insp. Nat Dollard of southern metro division said.
Officers from Operation Fortress, running in selected eastern suburbs, have also run all-night patrols.
Those involved in the aggravated burglaries concentrate on high-end prestige cars with an average value higher than $50,000 and the total value of vehicles stolen statewide via unlocked doors could push towards $100 million.
The figures from the east and south are for one-third of the year and are a long way from covering all of the metropolitan and country areas where such offending is an issue.
Teenagers as young as primary school-age have been arrested over the crimes.
In the early hours of January 14, three aged 12 to 15 allegedly cut through flywire to steal car keys and video games from an Iris St, Glen Iris, home.
A 15-year-old from Springvale South was charged with aggravated burglary and it is expected the others will be hit with the same offences at a later date.
Seven youths were charged over the theft of a BMW X7 from a home in Reid St, Brighton, overnight on January 7.
The vehicle was monitored from the air as it travelled erratically through Brighton before four youths were arrested at a property in Drummond St, Carlton, and three others were found nearby.
On January 2, two climbed into an unlocked vehicle in Exley Rd, Hampton East, and stole a handbag with keys.
They then returned and took off in the car after being disturbed by the householder, later being spotted doing a burnout in Dendy Park.
The car was found in Seaview Ave, Brighton, and boys aged 15 and 17, who were arrested nearby, have been charged.
On January 20, a 15-year-old boy allegedly stole a Mercedes-Benz after using an unlocked door to get into a home in Daley St, Bentleigh and grab its keys.
A 44-year-old man heard it being driven away and contacted police who tracked the Merc to Noble Park where they arrested a boy who has been charged with aggravated burglary and other offences.
The new police approach has been brought about by enormous change in the nature of vehicle theft in recent decades.
Hot-wiring – interfering with a car’s ignition electronics – was once the main method employed by criminals.
But advances in security have made that harder and thieves are swiping keys to get them started.
This has led to the vast increase in aggravated burglaries in which youth gang members look for unlocked doors and enter properties.
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