Couple lose $100K in burglary

A Yamaha mini bike was taken.

By Brendan Rees

A Pearcedale woman and her family have been left devastated following a shocking burglary of more than $100,000 including sentimental jewellery and a car.

Karen and her husband were in Broome when intruders jemmied one of the front windows of their Pearcedale Road home during the early hours of Saturday 20 July.

A diamond engagement ring worth $6,000, and a wedding ring, as well as Karen’s grandmother’s wedding ring were taken from their bedroom.

The couple’s four-wheel-drive, a 2008 Toyota Landcruiser worth $50,000 was also stolen.

Karen said she was alerted to the break-in about 3.45am when a security company called saying their garage alarms had gone off.

“We had to ring our sons and they raced around there quickly,” she said.

According to Karen, the alarms scared off the intruders who dropped a make-up bag full of keys in the shed.

“They’ve dropped the bag of keys to our keys, all our trucks, and excavator … the front door and back door,” she said.

After cancelling the rest of their trip, Karen said they came home to find “stuff scattered everywhere,” and have since changed their locks.

“That got all the clothes out of our wardrobes, and they up-ended some of the files in the filing cabinet,” she said.

“The only room they didn’t go into was our grandkids’ bedroom but everywhere else they’d gone through.”

A Go Pro, a drone, a nine-carat gold charm bracelet, cash, tools, an iPad, laptop, iPhone, Samsung TV, chainsaw, and two mini-motorbikes were among the items taken in the raid.

The intruders even took their Dyson vacuum cleaner, which was only a year old.

“I actually think it could’ve been a lot worse,” Karen said, explaining the intruders “seem to have taken care with some things.”

“When they’ve taken some of the clothes off the shelf in the bedroom they’ve actually put them on the floor in piles.”

“They didn’t touch the kids’ piggy banks,” she said, despite money “sticking out of them.”

While in Broome, Karen’s son made a video call to her, showing her the trail of mess left behind so “we knew what to expect when we got home.”

The stolen white Landcruiser has a canopy, with registration WHC 994. An Engel fridge was also in the back at the time of the theft.

Narre Warren Crime Investigation Unit is investigating.

Anyone with any information regarding this incident, they are urged to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.