The lucrative black market in trailbikes appears to have sparked renewed raids across the Lower Hunter, six years after a police strike force had to be set up to investigate the looting of hundreds of machines.
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Successful racer Ricky Kalisz is at least $30,000 out of pocket after three bikes were taken just metres from where he was sleeping in his Heddon Greta house, while friends fell victim to thieves in a pre-dawn raid on two properties at Thornton.
And it appears nothing will stop the thieves, who are suspected of drugging some of the victims’ dogs and may have been watching the targeted homes for weeks.
One of the victims, Brodie Hemmingway, says his three-year-old son came face-to-face with one of the thieves when he saw him through his bedroom window ripping out a sensor light on Sunday night.
“One of the men saw him and he ran back to his bed because he was frightened,’’ Mr Hemmingway said.
‘’When we asked him in the morning why he didn’t come and get us, he said: ‘I was too scared they could come in and get me’.
“It makes my blood boil.’’
Mr Hemmingway had two bikes worth about $15,000 taken from a shed at his Thornton house before the thieves turned their focus on a rider a few doors down and took both his bikes too.
The raids came two weeks after Mr Kalisz woke to find his three 2015-model bikes taken from his shed despite the building being locked and the bikes chained up.
“It was not five metres away from the sliding door to our bedroom and we didn’t hear a thing,’’ Mr Kalisz said. “And we think the dogs were drugged because they were asleep all day and didn’t want to go near anyone.
“It is not just the money factor, it is the fact someone has been snooping around in your yard and has been watching you.
“My missus is petrified now, she doesn’t want to be here alone with the kids.’’
Mr Kalisz said it was not until he woke the following morning that he noticed wheel marks in the dew on his front lawn.
Gone were his uninsured Husqvarna FC450, Kawasaki KX450 and Kawasaki KLX110.
He believes the thieves had been in his shed before because they had been able to locate hidden helmets without having to ransack the building.
And with the latest round of the Australian motocross series on at Raymond Terrace on the weekend, participants are being warned about bike security.
The thefts come six years after a police strike force was set up to investigate the theft of hundreds of machines across the Hunter, when thieves were following owners home from rides and identifying easy targets before returning as their victims slept.
