Police to take fight to home invaders

POLICE will saturate Toowoomba streets in the coming weeks as they target thieves breaking into homes and stealing cars.

It comes after thieves stole more than 53 vehicles from Toowoomba homes and businesses in the past 30 days.

QPS Assistant Commissioner for the Southern Region Mike Condon (pictured) said the offenders were well known to police.

In the past month, his officers have arrested and charged 38 offenders linked to the spike in car thefts – 16 of whom are juveniles.

“We have identified several adult recidivist offenders who have recently been released from prison – one of which was released on July 2,” Mr Condon said.

Toowoomba is at the crest of a wave of offending with several high-powered vehicles stolen in the past week.

From April to June, police recorded 576 counts of unlawful entry and 216 counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

The data suggests offenders are stealing cars and sharing them with associates.

Mr Condon said police would be patrolling high-risk areas and conducting extra parole and bail checks to ensure known offenders were behaving.

Crime prevention officers will also reach out to the community and push for a greater focus on home safety.

“About 24 of the 90 offences related to the unlawful entry of dwellings where the keys were stolen,” Mr Condon said.

“We are saying to the public to be more safety conscious about the keys to your vehicles – which is probably the second most valuable item of property that you own.”

Included in the figure of 90 vehicles stolen in the Darling Downs, 53 came from Toowoomba, 15 from the Darling Downs country area and 15 from the Warwick area.

That figure of 90 cars stolen in the past 30 days is about a 50 per cent increase from the same period in 2020 – when 60 cars were stolen.