Burglar CCTV ‘terrifying’
Community ‘rattled’ by series of break-ins
A VICTIM of a burglary has described the terrifying moment CCTV captured an alleged offender inside the family home for 50 minutes while five others unknowingly slept upstairs.
The Hope Island woman was one of nine people whose homes were broken into at the weekend, leaving the tightknit community “rattled”.
She explained the man cut through the fly screen and removed louvres to gain access to her home where he spent 50 minutes inside the house.
She said five people were sleeping upstairs – one of them only metres away – but “none of us heard a thing”.
“From our security cameras, he was in and around our home for 50 minutes, which is extremely unnerving,” the woman wrote to Broadwater MP David Crisafulli.
“We have been extremely upset by this occurrence, especially when we live in a gated estate with 24/7 CCTV security, security patrols and what we thought would be enough deterrence having security cameras around our home also.”
Mr Crisafulli said the woman’s letter was so powerful he would stand up and read it in state parliament next month.
Mr Crisafulli said he would push the government for more police officers for both
Coomera and Runaway Bay police stations.
“Our focus is an active policing presence. Coomera is overstretched and I will be asking for more resources to both stations,” he said.
“We need more police both in Coomera and Runaway Bay and for Hope Island to be transferred to Runaway Bay station, so proactive policing can take place.”
Hope Island chair of security Bruce Maynard said despite the community having security patrols and cameras there were still “exposed areas” the perpetrators took advantage of.
“It’s more than likely they’ve breached it by jumping a fence,” he said. “Saturday night was pouring with rain and it was dark and they’ve obviously taken advantage of that.
“They’ve obviously done their homework, but they’re opportunists as well, they took wallets, handbags, and in some instances, they’ve been able to breach some people’s doors that weren’t secure.”
Mr Maynard backed Mr Crisafulli’s fight to secure more police officers and have Hope Island serviced by the Runaway Bay police station.
He said the northern Gold Coast had grown exponentially and there was plenty to occupy Coomera police.