Yarrabilba residents are calling for justice after a spree of car vandalism between April 5 and 7.
More than 20 vehicles were reported to police as being damaged by key scratches to paintwork between April 5 and 13, with a majority of the cars being vandalised in streets adjoining Treeline Circuit.
Resident Danielle Longhi said the spree of keying offences had pushed forward her move out of Yarrabilba.
“My partner and I are about to get married, this is not a good time for an extra expense to us,” she said.
“We wanted to use this as our wedding car, but that won’t happen now.”
Ms Longhi said her Chrysler was parked in their driveway, as it had been every night since they moved to Yarrabilba.
Both driver-side doors were damaged with one strip of keying.
“We haven’t received the quote back but it’s expected to be more than $1000,” Ms Longhi said.
“This will affect my excess too and I’ll be labelled as a bad driver for a year.”
Fellow resident Mick Ferris’ Ford Ranger was keyed on both passenger-side doors.
“I’m not the worst off because it is a work vehicle, but it would be easily $1100 to fix,” he said.
Mr Ferris said he thought it was a shame that people thought they could get away with something that affected so many residents.
“I’d really like to see justice brought to whoever acted in this way,” he said.
“Personally I think this just brings such a bad light to our community.”
Officer in Charge at Jimboomba police station Senior Sergeant Peter Waugh said officers had not seen a regional increase in this type of crime and this was a localised spate of incidents.
“We believe there was a group conducting these offences over several nights in Yarrabilba,” he said.
“Vehicles have been forensically examined and we are searching CCTV footage.
“We have also spoken to a number of Yarrabilba residents.”
Senior Sergeant Waugh said officers responded proactively and reactively to offences throughout the district.
“We are not constrained by our boundaries as we are a mobile force,” he said.
“It is about enhancing our capability to ensure we have the right people in the right place at the right time with the right resources to provide for the safety and security of the community we serve.”
Senior Sergeant Waugh said police mobile capabilities had just improved with the recent implementation of a mobile policing facility that would be used throughout the region.
“This technical equipment has helped in solving a variety of crimes,” he said.
“The facility has been used through the district, including in Yarrabilba since the spate of offences.”
