By Parker McKenzie
A Montrose supermarket was left reeling this week when it was burgled less than 48 hours after being ram raided in the early hours of Monday 8 August.
Around 4am on Monday morning, a Silver Navara 4WD ute was driven through the window of the Montrose IGA on Mt Dandenong Tourist Road. CCTV footage showed the vehicle being reversed between traffic bollards before crashing into the building, causing a smoke-based security system to be set off.
Montrose IGA owner Brad Munro said the security system was installed after another burglary incident in May 2021 and it was the first time it had been activated.
“As the thieves think they’re getting smarter, we sort of become more technical,” Mr Munro said.
“These devices are awesome when it comes to protecting your asset inside the business but they can’t do much about the outside.”
The following day, a man allegedly forced entry into the IGA around 7.30pm and grabbed the content of the till within the cash register before fleeing the scene.
Mr Munro said fortunately no one was injured in the incident.
“Our CCTV footage was enough to identify the type of car and the actual people. Once again that’s another system we’ve just upgraded,” he said.
“We’ve got 34 cameras around the building and within it, along with the council’s CCTV they’re in the process of installing makes it hopefully a lot more secure.”
Victoria Police said a 33-year-old man was arrested after a carjacking in Bayswater on Tuesday 9 August, where it was “ascertained the man was involved in a burglary at a supermarket in Mt Dandenong Tourist Road early Tuesday morning” and the two incidents weren’t linked.
Knox Crime Investigation Unit detectives arrested a different man after he allegedly entered a woman’s car at a licensed premises on Scoresby Road around 11.20am and assaulted another person after they asked the offender to get out of the vehicle.
Police said the victim entered a shop at the same venue and threatened staff before fleeing. The Rowville man was arrested nearby and is assisting the police.
Mr Munro said while the ram raid was covered under insurance, there are still policy excesses, out-of-pocket expenses and trading disruption for the business to deal with in the aftermath.
“This is the third time with my store and my business specifically, however, there have been other break-ins at other shops,” he said.
“There have been some car thefts, there’s been a lot of graffiti, damage to buildings, damage to property, damage to council assets and hopefully with all these upgraded security measures we can curtail it a bit.”
