A UTE allegedly stolen on the morning of November 14 was Euroa’s fifth alleged car theft in as many weeks, while farm burglaries have also spiked, according to Euroa Police.
“Most of those cars have had the keys in the cars and unlocked,” Leading Senior Constable Jarrod Toomer said.
“Obviously, they're thinking Euroa is a bit of an easy target, and judging by the amount of people that have left keys in cars, that seems to be the case.”
The incidents are “probably separate”, Constable Toomer said, with reports of multiple suspects suggesting more than one crew may be travelling into town for easy pickings.
“There are also people doing a lot of farm burgs at the moment... a lot of trailers are getting knocked off in and around Euroa,” Constable Toomer said.
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At least three of the vehicles have now been recovered by police, including the ute allegedly taken on Thursday morning, belonging to Euroa’s Alisha Reinhold.
The ute was located undamaged in Melbourne and will be returned to Ms Reinhold.
The numberplates had been stripped, but police identified it by VIN number.
Ms Reinhold said a neighbour’s CCTV footage showed the ute allegedly stolen by a man in a high-vis jumper at about 3.20am on Thursday morning.
She said her car was unlocked at her house on Euroa-Mansfield Road, near the centre of town, with a spare key possibly in the car.
“I got home, I had too much to carry, so I thought I'll run inside with the first load, got distracted, spoke to my daughter, never went back out to the car,” she explained on Thursday morning.
The Kinross Farms supervisor had been “gutted” over the alleged theft, describing the white 2008 Toyota Hilux as her “home on wheels”.
Underscoring the town’s spike in vehicle thefts, Ms Reinhold said her gardener, Doug, arrived at her home on Thursday morning without his usual ute, because it was allegedly stolen from outside the Euroa Bowls Club a week earlier.
Euroa Police said this vehicle had also now been found in Melbourne and would be returned to its owner.
Police are continuing to investigate both thefts, with no suspects charged yet.
Police found and recovered another allegedly stolen car abandoned on Meades Lane near Euroa a few Sundays ago.
LOCK UP: EUROA POLICE
Constable Toomer is urging residents to lock up their belongings.
“It's always been a bit of an Australian way of life, especially in the country; I would go out, leave my door to my house unlocked, leave my car unlocked,” Constable Toomer said.
“That's how we used to be; that's how we still want to be.
“Unfortunately, there's people that go around and their job, in essence, is to try your front door, try your car door, and to take what you own.
“That's how they get through in life.
“And if you make it easy for them, and leave your keys in the car, expect your car not to be there when you come back.”
He said Euroa Police’s resources have been tied up by preventable thefts, at a time when police resources are limited.
“Unfortunately, the [alleged thieves] do know when we knock off work,” Constable Toomer said.
“You'd be surprised who would be walking around at two and three o'clock in the morning, just looking for things.
“We don't have officers on duty at that time; it makes it quite frustrating for us.
“So, we do rely on a network of the community and cameras… and people reporting things.”
He urged residents to report crimes and anything suspicious, as more reports could justify more resourcing or night shifts.
“Without having a lot of these reports and… building up a picture of what's going on and what times of day and night, then we can't plan ahead any sort of preventative operations,” he said.
“Often we'll find out things after the fact, because people don't bother calling us.”
Constable Toomer said the recent crime spikes were likely not driven by local offenders.
“Euroa is a good place, but it's… people that are coming from further afield, Broadford, Wallan, Shepparton, Benalla,” he said.
He also warned insurers will likely reject theft claims when cars have been left unlocked, with keys inside.
“The insurance company will probably go, ‘computer says no,’ basically,” Constable Toomer said.
