Perth Voice Interactive

A BRAZEN thief stole umpteen wallets and phones from changing rooms as Mt Lawley Amateur Football Club players trained outside.

Hawks president Gary Formica says senior players returned to the Hamer Park dressing room to discover the thefts.

“One of the phones stolen was an iPhone 6 and one of the boys was able to trace it to a house in Forrestfield,” he told the Voice. “We contacted the local police, but they said they were unable to go into the house without a search warrant.

“It’s really disappointing that this has happened: we generally leave the changing rooms unlocked as we are so close by and there are always people going in and out during training.”

Local police officer Dave Whitnell says iPhone “pinging” is helpful but not always exact.

“A similar type of incident over the weekend led up to apprehending an offender for a $140,000 burglary in Claremont,” he told the Voice.

Intelligence

“Usually we will look into this type of information and use it to add value to intelligence that we already have associated with a specific address. This may assist us with finding grounds to obtain a search warrant.”

He warns there’s a lot of theft occurring in the Mt Lawley area.

“We have conducted two pro-active operations in the last month in an attempt to combat this type of crime,” he says. “During the last operation we made three arrests, issued two summons and three juvenile cautions.

“We regularly patrol the area that you have mentioned above and are always on the lookout for suspicious activities.”

Mr Formica says the Hamer Park carpark needs better lighting and CCTV.

Stirling acting manager Craig Castle says there have been four requests since January for extra patrols at Hamer Park.

“CCTV is generally not provided for leased club rooms and no official application has been received as far as I am aware,” he says.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK