BRAZEN thieves raiding homes in Glenfield Park are putting lives at risk by tearing holes in fences designed to keep children off a railway line.
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Wagga police crime manager, Detective Inspector Darren Cloake, revealed the potentially-deadly situation while talking about four more Wagga break-ins in the space of hours between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Inspector Cloake said thieves were making rapid movement between Ashmont and Glenfield Park by going through ringlock fencing on either side of the rail corridor.
“It provides safe haven for them to transit between the two areas,” Inspector Cloake said.
When The Daily Advertiser went to the location on Tuesday there were several holes in the fence along a distance of about 200 metres.
Some holes had been patched up, but at one point there was a section of fencing virtually pulled to the ground on the Glenfield Park side and the same on the opposite side of the railway line on the Ashmont side.
A wandering toddler could easily get through some of holes and make their way onto the Sydney-Melbourne railway line.
Wagga police have been grappling with a jump in break-ins over recent weeks and are becoming increasingly frustrated by situations that make break-ins and escape easier for the criminals.
“It’s going to take a community response to stop these offences taking place,” Inspector Cloake said.
In recent years, police have successfully lobbied to have some pedestrian lanes -used as getaway routes by robbers – closed.
In another disturbing twist, house raiders are switching off the electricity at properties in an attempt to further conceal their movements.
Inspector Cloake said this tactic was used during an attempted break-in on Bamarook Crescent – just east of the railway line – about 12.35am on Tuesday.
He said one of the occupants then heard an offender try to open a side window of the garage.
The resident discovered the power was off when trying to turn on a light.
The victim yelled out and the offender fled.
Inspector Cloake said another unit and a house in Bamarook Crescent were broken into overnight.
In both instances, thieves ransacked the properties. The residents were not home at the time.
Inspector Cloake said police received a report of a fourth Glenfield Park break-in about 6am on Tuesday.
He urged all residents to lock up their houses and report suspicious activity.
