BRAZEN thieves are towing away bobcats and causing thousands of dollars damage to cars to steal small change.
Whittlesea police Inspector Bob Dykstra said there were 46 thefts of items from cars in January, 25 in February and 57 in March.
The number of vehicles stolen jumped from 55 in February to 87 in March.
Inspector Dykstra said thieves were “regularly” stealing machinery from building sites.
“They just pull up with a truck and load on back hoes and bobcats,” he said.
Mill Park Leading Senior Constable Sandra O’Connor said longer term figures showed there were 1296 robberies of belongings from cars in 2010 and 1344 last year, a rise of 3.7 per cent. Car thefts rose from 472 to 510 in the same period.
She said number plates accounted for a third of thefts from cars, with the stolen plates subsequently being used to hide drivers’ identities in petrol thefts and other crimes. Few were recovered
.
Senior Constable O’Connor said it was impossible to say where most thefts occur.
“Going back five years, we could see a concentration in shopping centres and train station car parks, but now we can’t pinpoint black spots because it’s everywhere,” she said.
Police urged drivers to be vigilant.
Drivers can ensure their number plates are secured with one-way screws, which can be bought from Epping, Mill Park and Whittlesea police stations.
