By Callum Ludwig
An Upper Yarra pharmacy has been the target of a break-in that has caused thousands of dollars of damage.
Two individuals attempted to break into the TerryWhite Chemmart in Wandin North just before 4am on Sunday 2 June.
Owner Nabih Barsoum said he woke up Sunday morning and found he’d had multiple missed calls from his alarm company while he was asleep.
“I called them back and they told me what happened so then I logged into my cameras from my phone and I could see the damage happened to the front door and so I left my family and came down straight down,” he said.
“It was two people, one taller and one shorter, hooded and wearing gloves, both slim and white and driving nice cars; one big, black SUV and one white three-door sports sedan.”
Mr Barsoum reviewed his CCTV footage and saw the two perpetrators using a sledgehammer or other large tool to smash the glass of the front door before trying to unlock it. After failing in their attempts, they tried to smash a lock near the floor unsuccessfully before resorting to smashing more of the glass to gain entry to the pharmacy.
Mr Barsoum said they went straight to the dispensary once in the store.
“They knew what they wanted and went straight to it with no hesitation, no wasting time but they couldn’t access it so they grabbed some baskets from the pharmacy to put the stock in and then got out and left,” he said.
“We leave the tills open so they could see there’s no money there and they didn’t go there, but they had a look.”
The perpetrators are believed to have come from the Seville direction and left via the Warburton Highway towards Lilydale.
Mr Barsoum said he feels like the store has been targeted every two or three years.
“I mean the cost to repair the door and the lock slot, we’re talking thousands of dollars, and the cost of the stolen goods was under a thousand dollars, but for them, it could be worth a lot more on the street market if they are wanting to resell it,” he said.
“Every time I have to clean the mess, repair the damage, recover from the trauma where it feels like you’ve been violated and pay the excess on my insurance while my premiums keep going up,”
Mr Barsoum has considered putting up bollards (as a car has previously been used to break into the store) and shutters previously but worries about the look of them on the store and the space the shutters will need to take up inside.
Mr Barsoum said he thinks some upgrades to security on the strip of shops could help.
“If we had more cameras in that strip, we could capture them from all different directions, which would help identify them more, we need fixed cameras, not just by the shop owners, because you cannot force them to do it,” he said.
“More light as well, I’ve got my own light out the front of the pharmacy but everywhere else is so dark as well,”
“We need to come up with a plan for the whole strip because it’s attractive for criminals and they will keep coming back.”
The offenders also damaged the front door of the nearby Golden Opportunity Shop.
Mr Barsoum said he wants to thank all of the community who have wished him well following the incident.
“Knowing that there’s people out there that value what we do is really nice, it’s the only good thing that has come out of this,” he said.
“People have even come here and given me flowers, which was really touching and I’d love them to thank them all.”
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has CCTV footage can contact the Yarra Ranges Crime Investigation Unit on 9739 2401, or submit a confidential report via Crime Stoppers.
