Eight alleged burglars have been arrested this week following separate incidents spanning across Melbourne's south-east and north-west suburbs.
It's alleged two adults were involved in burglaries across Caulfield, Dingley Village, Carnegie and Ormond, while six youths were involved in burglaries in Essendon.
All eight offenders now face a raft of property and vehicle related charges including aggravated burglary, theft from and theft of motor vehicle, theft and handling stolen goods.
Officers working in the south-east have stepped up the heat on opportunistic thieves targeting vehicles and property with a dedicated operation.
The on-going operation sees officers across Melbourne's south-east actively conduct uniform and covert patrols every night of the week, intercepting vehicles, checking people, and gathering intelligence.
As part of Operation Bird, there were two arrests in Melbourne's south-east this week.
At approximately 7am on Monday (24 October), Cheltenham police responded to a call of a suspect loiter in Kubis Crescent, Dingley Village.
When police arrived, a man riding a white bicycle attempted to flee the area. Officers gave chase and arrested the man a short while later, seizing the bicycle at the time of the man's arrest.
Police will allege the man broke into six vehicles in Dingley Village between the hours of 11pm on Sunday 23 October and 6am on Monday morning, allegedly stealing number plates, electronic goods, personal items, and a bicycle.
It is alleged the man is also linked to three further theft related incidents in Carnegie and Ormond, and an aggravated burglary in Ormond last week.
The 30-year-old Hampton Park man has been charged with theft from motor vehicle, theft and handling stolen goods. He has been remanded to appear before the Dandenong Magistrates' Court on 27 October.
On 25 October, Moorabbin Crime Investigation Unit detectives executed a search warrant in Hughesdale where a 25-year-old Hughesdale woman was arrested in relation to a series of aggravated burglaries in Caulfield.
Police will allege the Hughesdale woman gained and attempted to gain access to four properties between the hours of 3am to 4am on Friday 21 October.
The 25-year-old has been charged with aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated burglary, theft, handle stolen goods, dealing with the proceeds of crime and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
She has been remanded to appear before the Moorabbin Magistrates Court on 22 November.
In addition to these arrests, a further six youth males were arrested in Melbourne's north-west for a series of allegedly linked aggravated burglaries and thefts from vehicles.
Detectives from the Moonee Valley Crime Investigation Unit arrested the males early Tuesday (25 October) morning following four incidents in the Essendon area believed to be linked.
Detectives will allege one of the males accessed an unlocked car on Roberts Street, at about 1.40am before stealing house keys located inside the vehicle. The keys were then allegedly used to open the front door. The victim awoke to a disturbance and the offender allegedly ran away.
At about 2.10am, a victim was inside her Roberts Street home when she heard sounds at her front door. It is alleged she found a man in her doorway, and when she approached, he ran off with two other people.
About half an hour later, police were patrolling Roberts Street and noticed an interior light on inside a car parked in a driveway of another property. It's alleged the car was broken into and items disturbed inside.
Police continued to patrol the area on the lookout for the offenders before arresting six people at about 3.30am.
Just before 3.30am, a victim who was asleep inside their Ogilvie Street address woke up to the sound of someone trying to open their rear door. The victim woke up and chased the alleged offender outside, and then contacted police with descriptions of multiple people in the area.
Uniform police, detectives and the Dog Squad searched the area and located six males in surrounding streets.
Those arrested include three 17-year-old boys, two 16-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy all from Melbourne's northern suburbs.
They have since been charged with several offences including aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated burglary and theft from motor vehicle.
They will all appear before a Children's Court.
Based on real-time intelligence, police in all areas will continue to saturate areas of offending, honing in on suspicious activity and swooping on would be criminals before they can harm our community.
