December 23, 2013
A Kingaroy businessman is angry that thieves have struck at his business in Sawtell Street for the second time within just a matter of months.
On the latest occasion, four children’s motorcycles were stolen late on Sunday evening.
“The alarms went off at 11:48pm,” South Burnett Motorcycles’ owner Col Duffy told southburnett.com.au
A security guard found the front door of the showroom smashed in.
A lump of concrete had been hurled through a glass panel.
The thieves made off with two Yamaha PW50 and two Yamaha TT-R 50 motorbikes which are believed to have been loaded into the back of a stationwagon.
Mr Duffy said only frantic ringing around this morning to locate a replacement bike saved one South Burnett child the disappointment of finding out on Christmas morning that Santa had failed to deliver.
He said police had viewed CCTV footage from his store and from nearby premises so he was hopeful the culprits would be identified.
Earlier this year thieves stole a golf buggy and a quad bike from the yard of the business. These were both recovered by police.
There has been a spate of motorcycle thefts in the South Burnett in recent months, with Nanango Police going so far as to issue a special warning to owners last month to take extra care to lock up their machines.
Steve Hood, owner of Kingaroy Motorcycles in Haly Street, said when he came to work this morning he was greeted with the news that his security alarms had also been triggered overnight.
He was unsure if this was linked to the robbery in Sawtell Street as there appeared to have been no attempt to enter his store.
However, Mr Hood said he had also suffered a theft in recent months with a Kawasaki big bore dirt bike stolen from the rear of his premises. This has not been recovered.
He said there were attempted break-ins at the shop “from time to time”.
Mr Hood said the latest incidents would prompt him to increase security, adding even more CCTV camera coverage of his premises.
“It’s going to make me nervous for the next few weeks,” he said.
He said everyone thought “it doesn’t matter because they’re covered by insurance”.
But it does, Mr Hood said, as there was an excess and GST on the insurance claims which left him out of pocket if a stolen bike was not recovered.
UPDATE December 24: Kingaroy detectives are investigating the break-in at South Burnett Motorcycles and Scenes of Crime officers have dusted the area for fingerprints. Police are also examining CCTV footage of the break-in.
Kingaroy Police Officer-in-Charge Senior Sergeant Duane Frank said anyone with information about the incident should call CrimeStoppers anonymously on 1800-333-000.
The VIN numbers of the missing bikes are:
- Yamaha PW 50 blue JYA3PT002DA447466
- Yamaha PW 50 blue JYA3PT009DA447464
- Yamaha TTR 50 blue LBPCA01W7D0407515
- Yamaha TTR 50 blue LBPCA01W7D0407532
- Related article: Lock It Up Or Lose It
