Not your usual Easter Sunday hunt

Over the weekend of 4-5/4/20 offenders broke into a Home Group construction site in Delaware Road, Paradiso Estate, Baldivis. There were no signs of forced entry and offenders removed installed bathroom furniture and kitchen tap-ware before removing all gas burners, ovens trays and the oven door from a 900mm stand-alone oven, leaving the main oven behind.

On discovery, the building supervisor immediately contacted PACT Site Security investigators who reported the incident to Police and arranged for a Police forensics examination.

With the theory that the offenders will return to steal the oven, PACT investigators installed a GPS tracking device and waited.

At 0311 hrs on 8/4/2020, three days after the first burglary, offenders returned to the scene of the crime and removed the remainder of the oven. PACT investigators tracked the asset to bushland east of Byford.

With the increased use of GPS tracking devices, offenders are becoming more aware of the methods utilised to identify and arrest them. There have been several incidents where the stolen property from building sites has been hidden in bushland instead of being taken to a premises. We believe offenders are doing this to test if GPS tracking is installed in the hope that we will not be able to identify them. Eventually, they do return to collect the stolen property. PACT investigators are patient and happy to sit out the waiting time knowing that the GPS trackers last for up to 12 months.

PACT investigators review these incidents case by case and determine if it is better to recover the stolen items or leave them in place for the offender’s eventual return. While the identification and prosecution of offenders is an essential part of all of our investigations, the recovery and return of stolen property to our members is paramount to the services we provide.

In this case, our decision to leave the oven and GPS tracking at the location and wait for further movement paid off.

At 1319 hrs on Easter Sunday 12/4/2020 the GPS tracking device was again activated and led us to a residential address in Brookdale. PACT investigators raised the alarm with Armadale Police. While they were en-route to the tracked address, the GPS tracking was re-activated. The oven was in transit to another residential location, this time in Angelo Street, Armadale.

Police attended and executed a search warrant recovering the stolen oven; resulting in charging an adult male with burglary and his girlfriend with unlawful possession. Inquiries are continuing into other offences, and it is yet to be determined if offenders are linked to the building industry or if the theft is drug-related.

The arrest of offenders and recovery of the property has, once again, serves as a warning to offenders that if they’re going to steal from a member of PACT Site Security, they’re going to get caught! Another great result that assists PACT members, and the building and construction industry as a whole, in working towards reducing crime.