Toowoomba police investigate after Glenvale man assaulted by car thief during home invasion

A Toowoomba man was beaten with a mallet during a brazen daytime home invasion in Toowoomba at the weekend.

A Toowoomba man was beaten with a mallet in his home during a brazen daytime home invasion at Glenvale at the weekend.

A Queensland Police Service spokesman said the offenders entered the home at 2.45pm on Saturday, May 21, and stole car keys, a handbag, and house keys.

“The victims were home at the time … the offenders have returned within minutes with the intent to steal the car,” he said.

The spokesman said a man found a male inside his car armed with a mallet.

Picture: Bev Lacey

The man was stuck by the mallet a number of times causing bruising, before the would-be thief fled without the car.

In an unrelated incident, the spokesman said an elderly woman had her Hyundai sedan stolen at Toowoomba Garden of Remembrance after she left the vehicle to find a bin.

“The car has been sighted in the Toowoomba area, and it has been linked to a number of property offences over the weekend,” he said.

According to Queensland Police Service statistics, nine cars were stolen across Toowoomba, however 14 were stolen across the region.

There were also 27 unlawful entries reported in the region in the same time period, 20 of which occurred at Toowoomba.

Out of the 160 crimes reported to police last week, a majority of the alleged offences were theft related with officers responding to 36 incidents, followed by 20 good order offences, drug, and unlawful entry crimes, and 14 assaults.