POLICE HUNT RAM RAIDERS
Small business takes big hit
A FAMILY-OWNED business in South Toowoomba is counting the cost of a damaging ram-raid robbery early yesterday.
Co-owner Brony Lund says the cost of the theft, during which gates were smashed, tools stolen and a client’s car taken, won’t be known for months.
THE owners of a South Toowoomba business targeted by ram-raiding thieves have hit out at the offenders, describing their actions as an invasion of privacy.
Brony Lund, who owns John’s Panel Shop on Stephen St with her husband, said the true cost of the early morning crime yesterday won’t be known for weeks, or months, as police investigate the destructive break-and-enter on the business.
But what is immediately clear is the emotional cost.
“I just can’t believe that someone would do this,” Mrs Lund said.
“How they can interrupt someone’s lives, I just don’t understand it.
“It’s never good when someone invades your private place – it just doesn’t feel good.”
Toowoomba police Scenes of Crime officers spent yesterday morning forensically examining the family-owned business after offenders smashed their way through a side window of the business early yesterday morning.
Once inside, they piled up thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment the business built up over the past 28 years and loaded it into a customer’s car which had been undergoing repairs.
The XF Ford Falcon’s keys were found inside the business, suggesting to police it was an opportunistic strategy to strip the business of its trade tools.
The thieves then used the car as a battering ram through the chained fence fronting Pechey St.
“We found half the gate laying on the side of the road, with the other side pushed open,” Mrs Lund said.
“When we walked in, we found the doors open to the main shed.
“We’ve never had this happen before.”
Nearby workers reported a car driving around the industrial area, concentrating on Stephen St, in the hours leading up to the break-in.
Police also reviewed CCTV footage captured from nearby businesses in an effort to identify those responsible.
“It’s just difficult for us to process through what’s happened, not only to us but to one of our customers who has been a long-standing customer,” Mrs Lund said.
“Because all our spray guns are gone, and tools, we literally won’t be able to do anything (yesterday).
“There’s probably about 40 (spray guns) that have gone missing so we won’t be able to do any spray painting for a while.”
Mrs Lund said the shop had been broken into in the past, with youths suspected of breaking in and stealing minor items.
But the cost of yesterday’s break-in far exceeded that.
“This is our livelihood,” she said.
“They’re just low-lives, really, and I can’t believe that someone would do this to someone.
“We’ve had customers come in here and say that people have hit their cars in parking lots, and then driven off.
“To me, to do something like that, is a really low act.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.