Thick as thieves! Two men steal CCTV cameras from parking garage before returning to take a bike – unaware they were being recorded on a nearby dashcam
- The alleged thieves stole cameras from a parking garage in Kingswood in Sydney
- They returned Saturday to take a bike believing they weren’t being seen
- But the owners had motion-triggered dashcams that caught them in the act
- The garage has been a hotbed for thefts and crime with residents living in fear
Thieves who thought they outsmarted residents at an apartment complex by uninstalling CCTV cameras have been captured on dashcam footage stealing a bike.
The men first entered the communal parking garage in Kingswood in Western Sydney on Monday last week to steal the security cameras.
The cameras were installed by a couple living in the building after they became fed up with the spate of crime in which they had car window smashed and wallet stolen.
The men returned on Saturday thinking they could take what they wanted without being identified since the CCTV cameras were no longer a threat.
But they had no idea the couple had a motion-triggered dashcam installed on their vehicles which recorded them breaking in at 4am and stealing the bike.
Resident Michaela said the bike belong to her partner Richard who was furious when watched the dashcam footage.
‘It was my partner’s things that were stolen. The more he watched the footage, the angrier he got,’ Michaela, who asked for their last names to be withheld, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Especially considering this isn’t the first time this happened.
‘The main reason I put it up on social media was to hopefully get a head start on finding the culprits.’
The men first entered the communal parking garage in Kingswood in Western Sydney on Monday last week to steal the security cameras. The cameras were installed by a couple living in the building after they became fed up with the spate of crime in which they had car window smashed and wallet stolen
The footage of the thieves was posted on Reddit on Monday in the hope of identifying the alleged thieves.
One of the men was wearing a high-visibility jumper that had a company logo clearly displayed on the front and back.
This lead commenters to believe one of the alleged thieves worked for the company.
The owner of the company met with Michaela and Richard after they reached out to him.
He was asked to try and identify the alleged thief wearing the company jumper but said the man was not an employee of his.
‘This guy, I have never seen him in my life,’ the owner told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I think he grabbed the jacket from one of our work sites.’
The company owner said the footage has negatively impacted his business because people believe the alleged thieves work for him.
‘This is gonna put me a s**t position,’ the owner said.
‘Robbing someone is the lowest of the low.
‘If I did know this guy, I would tell the police.’
Michaela said she keeps a baseball bat next to her front door after someone tried to break down her door while she was home.
Richard has had his car window smashed and his wallet stolen on three occasions.
The men returned on Saturday thinking they could take what they wanted without being identified since the CCTV cameras were no longer a threat. But they had no idea the couple had a motion-triggered dashcam installed on their vehicles which recorded them breaking in at 4am and stealing the bike
The thieves used his credit card to buy cigarettes and phone charges from a local 7/11.
Other residents have had laptops and power tools stolen from inside their vehicles.
Michaela claims the strata manager for the complex, Stanton & Taylor, had not installed CCTV cameras even after residents complained about the thefts.
‘We live in a weird area where there’s some new buildings built right next door housing commission,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘So there’s a massive disparity in the types of people you’ll get around here.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police for comment.
Stanton & Taylor Strata Management have been contacted for comment.