A UTE allegedly stolen on Thursday morning is 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 were 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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Euroa’s Alisha Reinhold said a neighbour’s CCTV footage showed her ute allegedly stolen by a man in a high-vis jumper at about 3.20am on Thursday morning.
Ms Reinhold 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.
The Kinross Farms supervisor was “gutted” over the alleged theft, describing the white 2008 Toyota Hilux as her “home on wheels”.
“You spend a lot of time in your car, and I've had it for a fair while and made a lot of memories in it,” Ms Reinhold said.
Making matters worse, her German passport, which she uses to visit her family in Germany, was in the vehicle.
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.
Constable Toomer said a second vehicle had trailed the Hilux, which CCTV footage showed passing WB Hunter Rural, then travelling down Siems Road, after the alleged theft.
He said a tip received on Thursday suggested the ute may have been in Wallan.
Constable Toomer said the tipster recognised the car from a Facebook post regarding the alleged theft made by Ms Reinhold’s partner, Declan.
Another allegedly stolen car was found abandoned on Meades Lane on Sunday and was recovered by police, Senior Constable Sharon Beaumont said.
TOWN AN “EASY TARGET” FOR THIEVES: EUROA POLICE
THIEVES have Euroa pegged as an “easy target”, Leading Senior Constable Jarrod Toomer of Euroa Police has warned, as he urged 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.
