BURGLARS stole up to $50,000 in cash, designer clothes, handbags, jewellery and a safe from a Patterson Lakes house, sometime between Friday 24 March and Sunday 26 March. Also taken was wine from the owner’s prized Penfolds Grange collection.
Police said the thieves knew what they were doing and had switched off the house’s electronic CCTV systems both inside and out before entering through a rear door which the owner is adamant was locked.
The two-storey house – sometimes vacant while storm damage is being repaired – was “completely ransacked” by the thieves who had eyes for only the best. The owner said a range of tradesmen had worked on the property since the December storms.
The offenders reportedly rifled through cupboards and drawers in all rooms, stealing a 55-inch plasma TV, Hugo Boss jackets, quality handbags, a wine collection from a special fridge, i-Phones and sporting equipment, including water-ski, fishing and diving gear.
The owner said the safe taken from the main bedroom would have required two men to lift.
Police said a white one-tonne utility seen in the driveway twice during the weekend may have been used by the burglars. A man was seen leaving the house with fishing rods and placing them in the ute.
Police are examining CCTV footage from neighbouring properties.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 12 April 2017
