Here is cost of doing
Dealerships targeted in crime spree
TWO Townsville motorcycle dealerships have sustained thousands of dollars worth of damage to their properties in a night of “senseless” crime.
Suncity Yamaha in Mount Louisa and JR’S Motorcycles and Suspension in Garbutt were targeted in the early hours of Tuesday morning when thieves rammed their way into both properties.
A stolen Toyota Hilux first rammed through the side entrance of Suncity Yamaha about 3.45am.
Two bikes, a Yamaha Yz450 and Yz250, which hold an estimated value of $28,000, were loaded into the tray of the Hilux before the pair left the scene.
General manager of Suncity Yamaha, Nick Lazaredes, said the thieves had gone through the side of the property where there were no bollards in place. “We put bollards up after (Suncity Yamaha) was ramraided in September …
but they went through the side,” Mr Lazaredes said.
Mr Lazaredes was woken to a call from their security company telling him the alarm had gone off, and said something didn’t “look right” when he checked CCTV cameras.
What he found when he arrived at the business was a big hole in the wall where a door had been. He said the incident was the second time in under a year that the business had been rammed by thieves.
“It’s just a senseless waste of money,” he said.
“Those guys (thieves), come around and they’re just vandals who destroy property.”
He said the cost to repair the damage from the last ramraid at the business in September 2021 was $10,000, and he expected the latest damages would cost up to $7000 to repair. “It’s ridiculous … sooner or later we’re going to have a building with concrete and barbed wire around it,” he said.
“It doesn’t present well to anyone (in that state), but that is the cost of doing business in Townsville.”
Some time later at family business JR’S Motorcycles and Suspension, manager John
Reid said they were made aware of an alarm going off at the workshop roller door.
“My dad came down and saw the roller door had been caved in, they reversed the ute through the roller door,” Mr Reid said. While no stock had been stolen this time, Mr Reid said three bikes had been stolen around the new year period. “They cut a window out and jumped through, lifted the roller door and took three new workshop bikes,” he said.
He said the business felt like it had little choice but to bolster security measures – a process expected to cost between $15-$20,000. The Hilux, which was stolen from an Ingham address on May 15, was found on fire at Oldenburg Place, Kelso at 5am on Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon, police located the two bikes stolen from Suncity Yamaha at a Kelso address, and were reportedly returned to the owners.
A man and two teenage girls were understood to be assisting police with investigations.