In the early hours of February 3, two offenders broke into the premises of Mandurah's West Coast 4x4 and Outdoor and made away with a $12,000 bike, leaving a trail of broken glass and damage behind them.
Store manager Jason Breen said he was notified of an alarm breach at 4.30am by the store's security company, and security joined them at the shop within minutes.
Upon entering and viewing security footage, Mr Breen said it was clear that two offenders were involved, and that voice recordings indicated one of the offenders was a young child.
"A male had entered through the side of the far window of the building and gained access using a couple of bricks and some bolt cutters and he cut the main cables securing all the bikes in our showroom," Mr Breen said.
"The younger, second perpetrator then entered the building and removed one of the bikes and was interrupted by security when attempting to remove a second."
In the footage, the young male appears to say "Tom, help me", as he struggles to remove the heavy bike from the store.
When security arrived, the pair fled, leaving one of the bikes wedged in the middle of the broken window, but managing to wrangle a top of the line Kawasaki MY22 KX250.
"It's not good for any business - especially a family-owned business who is all about supporting locals.
"Police attended very promptly this morning and have taken all the footage. We are now awaiting forensics to come down - and they will also be working with some facial recognition technology."
Mr Breen said that while he was hurt by the crime, he worried about the welfare of the offenders.
"The scary part is the age - that voice sounds like a really young person.
"It's sad that kids are getting involved in crime at such a young age."
The business will now repair their broken windows and upgrade their systems, which will thankfully be covered by their insurance.
"Things like this are always a blow, but we just have to come back stronger."
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact police on 131 444, or to make a report via Crime Stoppers.
Samantha Ferguson
Samantha Ferguson is a journalist at the Mandurah Mail. She is an entertainment, sport, crime, community and education journalist with a special interest in investigative pieces and human interest stories.
Samantha Ferguson is a journalist at the Mandurah Mail. She is an entertainment, sport, crime, community and education journalist with a special interest in investigative pieces and human interest stories.
