By XAVIER SMERDON
WYNDHAM businesses are being warned to play it safe by police after a spree of robberies in the area.
Officer in charge of the Werribee Crime Investigation Unit, Detective Senior Sergeant John Johnston, told Star that businesses had been targeted by brazen thieves in recent weeks.
The first major incident occurred on 22 October at around 2am when JB HiFi on Old Geelong Rd in Hoppers Crossing was broken into and around $90,000 worth of mobile phones were stolen.
Just days later on Sunday 3 November at around 7.10am a staff member at the Werribee Sports and Recreation Centre was threatened by a man with a weapon.
The man was wearing a Scream mask and approached the female staff member as she was opening up the premises.
He told her to fill a black bag he was carrying with money, after which he fled the scene.
Two days later at around 9.45pm the Phoenix Hotel on Wallace Avenue in Point Cook was robbed by two men wearing balaclavas and carrying sawn-off shotguns.
Det Snr Sgt Johnston said they entered the gaming area of the hotel before demanding cash and running away.
On 7 November the Spotlight store in Old Geelong Rd was broken into when a group of unidentified people entered through the roof of the store.
They triggered an alarm however and ran away before they managed to steal anything.
On 10 November at 6.15 am a petrol station at 160 Old Geelong Rd was robbed by a man armed with a knife.
He left the petrol station after the male attendant gave him the cash and cigarettes he had demanded.
On 12 November at around 3.15pm the business manager at Whispers Studio was threatened by two men carrying weapons who demanded cash.
They were told there was no cash at the premises and fled the scene after stealing several mobile phones.
Det Sen Sgt Johnston said all of the robberies were still being investigated and several of them had been passed on to the Embona Task Force.
The 24 year veteran of the Crime Investigation Unit said business owners should ensure they do as much as possible to lower their chances of being robbed in the lead up to Christmas.
“There’s lots of things that people can do,” Det Sen Sgt Johnston said.
“When they are closing their premises it is not a good practice to keep large quantities of cash on site.
“It’s also important not to talk to people about money and not to be regular with your movements of money. Don’t do the same thing every day.”
Anyone who has information on any of these incidents should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
