By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
POLICE are being called out daily to home invasions in Casey despite months of warnings.
Detective Senior Sergeant Rodney Maroney, from Casey CIU, told Star News there were one to two reports a day of aggravated burglaries occurring all over the municipality.
The most recent saw a victim come face to face with an intruder inside his Cranbourne home this week.
The victim was woken up in the early hours of Monday 2 November when he heard a sound inside his Harry Street house.
When he got up to investigate he was confronted by an unknown man who then fled, taking the victim’s iPad, house keys and car keys.
The intruder is described as Caucasian, aged in his mid-twenties, about 185cm tall, and was wearing a dark beanie, a shirt, an orange high-visibility vest, dark pants and boots.
“It’s typical of your aggravated burglary lately,” Det Sen Sgt Maroney said.
“We’re still getting one to two a day where people are breaking into houses through an unlocked garage.”
There has been a concerning spate of homes burglaries in Casey this year, in which thieves enter houses, often through unlocked doors while people are asleep, steal keys and use them to make off with the occupant’s car.
“It’s a simple thing of making sure the garage door is locked, locking any internal doors, and making sure that the keys aren’t anywhere where they can be found easily,” Det Sen Sgt Maroney said.
In August Star News spoke to David Linton, of Berwick, whose 18-year-old daughter, Emma, had her Holden Commodore stolen when thieves entered his house through an unlocked door and stole the car.
The Linton family’s ordeal was just the tip of the iceberg.
On 29 July, thieves broke into a Cranbourne North home in Paratea Lane in the middle of the day and took car keys which they used to steal a Kia Sportage. The car was found burnt-out in parkland in Narre Warren two days later.
Overnight on 31 July, a 2015 Range Rover Evoque and a 2008 Holden Astra were stolen from a Furness Court property in Berwick, after thieves also broke in and stole the keys.
Meanwhile, a Kia sedan was stolen from a Berwick house in Newbury Drive just after 1am on 3 August by thieves who were disturbed by the occupant and still managed to take the car.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
