By BRIDGET COOK
A HAMPTON Park woman has been left to deal with a $1000 repair bill just weeks after losing her job when thieves left a trail of destruction around the suburb last week.
Overnight from Thursday 7 to Friday 8 August up to 20 cars in Hampton Park had windows smashed and items stolen from them in the Blackwood Drive, Willow Drive and Huntington Crescent area.
Sunglasses, iPods, cash and wallets were among the items stolen from the cars.
The crime spree comes after a man, believed to be on a mountain bike, slashed the tyres on more than 100 cars in an early morning attack in Wyndham Vale on Sunday.
One of the Hampton Park victims, Faith Stanes, said she had some of the worse damage done to her Mazda 3 car in her street, with both a back and front windows smashed and her iPod stolen.
She has now been left carless as she in not in the financial position to afford it to have it repaired at this stage.
“Unfortunately, I lost my job two weeks ago so I don’t have the money to get it fixed, which leaves me without a car,” she said.
“The damage is estimated at over $1000 and my insurance excess is $1000 as it’s classed as a sports car.
“I don’t have that sort of money at the moment.
“Now I’ve got to figure out how the hell I’m going to get it fixed.”
Ms Stanes said those responsible should be ashamed about the problems they have caused to people for such little reward.
“They have caused damage to other people’s property because they’ve got nothing better to do,” she said.
“We’ve worked hard for our property, so it’s upsetting that they damaged it and caused a massive inconvenience for everyone.”
Detective Senior Constable Rebecca Maydom from Casey Crime Investigation Unit urged anyone with information about the spate of thefts and vandalism to contact police.
“We are appealing for any information as at this stage we don’t have any leads,” she said.
Sen Const Maydom said anyone who heard noises that night or saw any suspicious behaviour to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
She also encouraged the community to be vigilant to stop it from happening again.
“Try and ensure your cars are locked overnight, no valuables are left in it and be aware of any noises that you hear during the night,” she said.
“If you hear or see anything suspicious, call police so we can at least check it out.
“Attacks like this have a huge impact on members of the community, including the financial impact of having to repair their car as well as the inconvenience of being without a car while they get it fixed.
“If you have any information in relation to these matters, let us know so we can investigate it further and, hopefully, have someone charged for this.”
