By Daniella Miletic – The Age
A woman and child were awoken by a masked gang jumping on their bed and threatening them with a knife in a terrifying home invasion in Melbourne’s west overnight.
The pair was asleep in bed in their Albion home about 1.30am when three men broke into the house, armed with a hammer and a knife.
The men prised open a window, then jumped on the bed where the mother and her five-year-old son were sleeping.
They then threatened the pair with a knife and stole two sets of car keys and an iPad.
The offenders ran off. The mother and her child were not physically injured.
Three other adults were also sleeping in the home when the men broke in, including the woman’s husband, Edward.
Edward said he was woken by his wife and son’s screams.
“I just heard my young fella and my wife screaming, which woke me up kind of abruptly and I just came downstairs to see three men jumping out the window.
“I think I scared them off … Thank God she was able to scream.”
“My partner is a bit shaken up and my young fella is a bit scared but they are going good, travelling alright,” he said.
The neighbours down the driveway in the same block of town houses on Anderson Road awoke to discover that their house was targeted as well. Astoundingly, that same home had also been invaded just a fortnight earlier.
In that break-in, Prabhath Ponnamaneni was asleep on the couch when he was woken by a trio of men who held a kitchen knife to his throat.
Mr Ponnamaneni said burglars had also ransacked his home in the early hours of Tuesday morning – probably before moving next door to the house of the mother and child – as he and his four room-mates were upstairs sleeping.
Mr Ponnamaneni said that he was vigilant about locking up and was certain he bolted every window and door, as well as switching off all lights and appliances, before going upstairs to sleep about 12.30am on Tuesday.
When one of his room-mates woke early this morning, they discovered the front door and all the main doors flung open, as well as all the kitchen drawers left open.
Mr Ponnamaneni said car keys, scooter keys, two phones and an iPad were stolen. They were still determining what else was taken as they slept.
It is the second time Mr Ponnamaneni’s home has been invaded in as many weeks. On February 14th, burglars broke into the home. ”This is not the first time, last fortnight were were the ones who had a burglary at knifepoint,” he said.
”We don’t even know what to do,” he said. He and his room-mates were planning to move out and this latest incident would speed that up, he said.
Edward said that Mr Ponnamaneni’s break in last fortnight had prompted him to buy a baseball bat for protection but that he was unable to retrieve it before he saw the offenders flee.
The home invasions also come a night after another violent home break-in in Taylors Hill. Police are investigating if the Taylors Hill break-in is linked to an armed robbery that happened later on Sunday night at a McDonald’s outlet in Essendon.
Police said it was too early to tell if the home invasion in Albion on Tuesday morning was related to Sunday night’s aggravated burglaries in Taylors Hill and Essendon.
A spokeswoman said detectives would investigate whether the three incidents were related.
Aggravated burglaries and robberies have been increasing in Victoria. Crime Statistics Agency data showed the number of offences went up 12.2 per cent last year.
Anyone with information about the Albion home invasion is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
