REMEMBER WHEN

BOB Arthur was on first-name terms with most of the Gold Coast police force after being robbed 90 times in the previous 10 years.

He caught 44 of the perpetrators, most aged between 18 and 35, and been bashed twice at his 35-unit Burleigh complex, Le Beach, along The Esplanade.

Gangs of thieves had targeted his complex since he moved in to take over the management rights in 1996.

Some criminals arrived in busloads from the Tweed and have ransacked the unit complex in the middle of the night, fleeing with wallets, handbags and watches.

The shocking crime spree around Burleigh followed reports that teenage gangs have relocated from Palm Beach to Burleigh.

Some of the break-in incidents include:

* A wallet with $1000 taken from a unit while the occupants slept in another room.

* Car keys, sunglasses and a beach towel later found on a foreign man.

* Two expensive watches, $300 in cash, and cigarettes stolen from a unit.

* Boogie boards and bikes stolen from a downstairs storage area.

Mr Arthur, 60, a former diesel mechanic from Adelaide, is often woken early in the morning when he hears a specially installed alarm go off. He has caught three offenders this year and says each thief was let off with a small fine in the courts.

"I catch them, ring the police and then hear nothing more," he said.

"I am sick of getting out of bed in the early hours of the morning. The police are frustrated, too.”