By Afraa Kori
For over a decade, Anies Suzukawa had selflessly opened her Gembrook property to her neighbour Tim, giving his horses a home without any issues.
Last week, Anies had maintenance work done on her property to clear a track, and the worker completing the job noticed the missing fence and informed her.
An intruder passed through her locked gate on the PackTrack, walked 500 meters down an overgrown track, and stole an electric fence and energizer from a cleared area.
Tim is frustrated as he recently installed 200 meters of electric fencing and an energizer, as a safety measure to prevent horses from escaping.
The most concerning part was that the horses were in the paddock when the electric fence was taken, posing a serious risk of them escaping.
Fortunately, they were found safe, but Tim had to spend another $500 to replace everything, doubling his financial loss to $1,000.
“It really is a pretty low act to steal from your neighbours in a country area,” he said.
“It’s very strange, like, whoever took it must have been a local who knew the property, because it’s very isolated and set back from the road. You wouldn’t know there was land in there.”
The disturbing act of trespassing and theft on Anies property was reported to police on February 22.
Officers have been told a fence posts and a number of other items were stolen from a property in Gembrook sometime between 8 February and 15 February.
An ongoing issue for Anies is trespassing on her property. Ten years ago, she got a strong lock on her gate after someone illegally dumped building materials containing asbestos. Since then, she has discovered strange items on her property, including cans, balls, an arrow—raising concerns about potential shooting—and a ‘bong’.
Tim installed CCTV cameras on both properties in hopes of deterring future intrusions and theft.
Anies still loves Gembrook, but the incident has made her more cautious, prompting her to double-check that her car, garage, gate and doors are locked.
There are also concerns about the limited police presence in Gembrook and that rural town is changing from what it once was.
“We need to come together as a township just to be more vigilant about unusual activity,” Tim said.
“It’s hard in a rural community where you think that sort of stuff doesn’t happen. Now you hear stories from people who have stuff taken from their property. We heard from a local that the amount of theft has increased in the area and people seem to be getting away with it.”
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone who witnessed the incident, has CCTV/dashcam footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
