ARMED TEENS TERRIFY FAMILY IN BREAK-IN
Police are hunting a gang of youths who broke into a Helensvale home armed with knives, stole two cars and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Emergency services arrived to the Oyster Cove Promenade address at 5.45am on Sunday after reports of a break-in.
Upon arrival, police confirmed two vehicles, a beige BMW 328i and a grey Mazda CX-9, had been stolen from the property.
Father and home owner Marcelo Alcantara recounted the terrifying experience saying the intruders were only metres from his young daughters, aged two and six, when they broke in.
“It was terrifying,” he said. “My wife woke up to a loud noise coming from the garage, there were eight people at least, and a few of them holding knives.”
Mr Alcantara said the teens could be heard running around his home wielding knives, and he was afraid to confront them for fear of being stabbed.
The incident caused more than $100,000 worth of damage, with the thieves also having reversed into a wall of the family’s garage.
Mr Alcantra, from Brazil originally but having immigrated to Australia for safety, said “weak” youth justice laws had left his family feeling unprotected.
“The laws in this country are too soft on juvenile crime. We have been seeing these incidents on the news for a while, but to have it happen to us is very scary. There is no deterrence,” he added.
Mr Alcantara expressed concern the offenders, if caught, might face lenient consequences.
Chief Superintendent
Craig Hanlon said police were hunting “a number of people of interest” they had identified from CCTV footage and hoped to make arrests soon.
“We’re out and about hunting down those people we think may be the offenders and we’re confident that we’ll have them very soon,” he said.
Chief Supt Hanlon said the offenders they had identified, some of them juveniles, were known to police for having previously committed similar offences.
He said police had recovered the stolen Mazda in the car park of a Pacific Pines shopping centre.