While Riz Mohamed and Shanae Lawlor were away for the New Year’s holiday, their home in Melbourne’s north-west was ransacked by intruders.
The couple reported that the burglars meticulously searched through every room of their Keilor Downs residence, making off with a range of items including passports, cash, keys, and even clothes.
“They rummaged through my drawer and bizarrely took my underwear and washing powder,” Mohamed remarked.
Among the stolen items, the loss of Mohamed’s mother’s necklace hit the hardest.
“That’s the most significant loss. I would do anything to have it returned,” Riz expressed.
To avoid detection by neighbors, the thieves had even pulled down the blinds during their break-in.
With the spare house and car keys missing, the couple changed the locks on their property and were in the process of doing the same for their car.
But even a steering wheel lock on their 2016 Hyundai wasn’t enough to deter the burglars, who returned to the home a second time.
The hooded thief was captured on CCTV using what looks like an angle grinder to remove the club lock, before taking of in the car.
“When I was at work yesterday when Riz called me to say the car was stolen, I thought he was joking, like I couldn’t believe him,” Lawlor said.
The car has since been used to rob another woman in St Albans yesterday.
“Melbourne’s getting a bit of a bad wrap at the moment as well with the crime rate and we never felt like that until now,” Riz explained.
“Now that you’re actually going through it, it doesn’t feel like home anymore.”
