Thieves target tyres, cars and valuables

By Callan Date
CASEY motorists are under siege from desperate thieves who are going to extraordinary lengths to steal from cars.
Nothing is out of reach for the criminals who have stolen car wheels, tyres and lights, as well as an array of valuable items being kept inside vehicles.
And no suburb is safe, with thefts occurring in all parts of Casey.
Just last week cars in Doveton, Narre Warren, Berwick, Endeavour Hills, Cranbourne, Cranbourne North and Hampton Park were either stolen or broken into.
Concerning police just as much is the effort thieves are putting in to steal.
A Narre Warren motorist awoke last Saturday to find all four wheels and tyres had been taken from their Holden Commodore.
Bricks had replaced the $1500 wheels.
Closer to home, there were cars stolen from outside the front or from the driveways of private homes in Cranbourne, Cranbourne North and Hampton Park.
A 2004 white Mercedes van worth $25,000 was stolen last week in Cranbourne North, while on Sunday a 2000-model green Daewoo station wagon worth $10,000 was taken from Monahans Road in Cranbourne, and a 1982 red Toyota station wagon was stolen from Hampton Park.
Early on Saturday morning, vandals threw a rock through the front windscreen of a Mitsubishi Lancer in Cranbourne.
Detective Senior Sergeant Ian Wilcox of Narre Warren Criminal Investigation Unit (CIU) said the recent crime figures were a disappointing trend.
“Theft from motor cars is definitely on the increase,” Det Sen Sgt Wilcox said.
He said it was not just cars parked in the street that were being targeted, with driveway thefts just as common.
“They may be crimes of opportunity or they may be planning them,” he said.
Narre Warren Criminal Investigation Unit officers have investigated 974 theft from motor car crimes over the past year, while another 400 have been reported
Det Sen Sgt Wilcox said car owners needed to change their mindset if they believed they could still leave valuable items in the car while it was unattended.
“I just hope the message gets through to people that they need to take property out of their car,” he said.
“Everyone has got to be that extra bit vigilant.”
Det Sen Sgt Wilcox said if motorists had to leave their car in the street that parking under a light could prevent thieves from stealing car parts.
“At the present time the (Narre Warren) Tasking Unit is being deployed very much on investigating theft of and theft from motor cars, along with petrol thefts,” he said.
“It is certainly something that needs resources and we will continue to react to the crimes and investigate them thoroughly.”