Toorak thieves allegedly steal $75k of jewellery and WWII medals

The Australian

9 hours ago

In a pair of brazen robberies in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs an alleged thief stole a $25,000 engagement ring alongside war medals and a further $50,000 worth of jewellery.
The two burglaries occurred about 6.30pm on Friday June 27 at two neighbouring Toorak homes.
Police are now urging anyone with information to come forward.
The alleged thief is currently unidentified, with police releasing a new image to help identify him.
The alleged thief was caught on CCTV. Picture: Supplied / VIC Police
From the first property he allegedly stole a 2-carat diamond engagement ring, before forcing his way into the next-door home and taking a safe filled with approximately $50k worth of jewellery and four WWII army medals.
War medals belonging to one of the victim's mothers were also stolen. Picture: Supplied / Victoria Police
No residents were home at the time of the thefts.
Detective Senior Constable Daniel Wall said the significance of the stolen items has made it 'particularly distressing' for the victims.
'An engagement ring carries profound sentimental worth and it would extremely upsetting to have this taken away from you,' Detective Wall said.
'The war medals belonged to the victim's mother who has now sadly passed away, so you can understand how heartbreaking it must be for this family.
A further $50k worth of jewellery was also stolen. Picture: Supplied / VIC Police
'We're asking residents in the area to check their CCTV, and we're particularly keen to hear from anyone who noticed suspicious activity in the area at the time. You can do so anonymously via Crime Stoppers.'
Police have released images of the stolen jewellery, which include a cupid charm, a love-heart bracelet, and a star-shaped brooch.
Brendan Kearns
Cadet Journalist
Brendan Kearns is a cadet journalist with News Corp Australia. He has written for The Australian, the Herald Sun, the Geelong Advertiser, CHOICE, Cosmos, and The Citizen. He won Democracy's Watchdogs' Student Award for Investigative Journalism 2024 and hosted the third season of award-winning podcast Uncurated. He studied as Master of Journalism at The University of Melbourne, before that he worked as a video producer and disability worker.
@brendandkearns
Brendan Kearns