Second Wonthaggi man on bail charged with 25 offences as crime wave's grip tightens
Police allege the 39-year-old is a co-accused of the man arrested at Drysdale Street last week, as a 40-year-old at Mirboo is also charged with 35 offences and Tuesday's state budget commits to rewriting Victoria's sentencing laws.
A second Wonthaggi man on bail has been charged over the months-long burglary spree that has hit cafes, restaurants, sports clubs and places of worship as the crime wave gripping the region tightens.
Bass Coast Crime Investigation Unit detectives executed a search warrant at a McBride Avenue address on Wednesday morning and arrested the 39-year-old.
He was charged with 25 offences including three counts of burglary, attempted burglary, possession of a firearm as a prohibited person, possession of prohibited weapons, possession of methylamphetamine and possession of cannabis.
More than half the charges relate to committing an indictable offence while on bail.
Police allege the man is a co-accused of the 39-year-old arrested at a Drysdale Street address on May 1 and charged with 38 offences over the same spree.
That man was remanded after appearing at the La Trobe Valley Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Wednesday's accused was also remanded and is due to appear at the Korumburra Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Police flagged the targeting of churches over the Easter weekend as a particular concern.
In a separate operation on Friday May 1, Latrobe Crime Investigation Unit detectives arrested a 40-year-old man at a rural property in Mirboo and charged him with 35 offences over a series of burglaries and motor vehicle thefts across Latrobe, Baw Baw, South Gippsland, Cardinia and Melbourne's eastern suburbs.
Two stolen vehicles and property belonging to burglary victims were recovered from the property.
He was remanded in custody after appearing at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court.
The Wonthaggi arrests follow a fortnight of brazen offending across the region, including the attempted theft of a tradesman's tools in Kilcunda which ended in a Hill Street resident being driven at and almost run down before the offenders fled, the joyriding and trashing of a stolen Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Exceed taken from Wonthaggi on April 26, the alleged ramming of the South Gippsland Yacht Club at Inverloch, the brazen daylight theft of a light tower from volunteer-run Nyora Raceway, and a string of break-ins and weekly vandalism centred on the Leongatha Railway Station precinct
The arrests come as the State Government used Tuesday's budget to commit $397 million to community safety, including $229 million to expand the corrections system and $51 million for 50 new Protective Services Officers.
The budget also put nearly $3 million into the first independent review of Victoria's Sentencing Act since it was introduced in 1991, with the Government committing to rewrite the Act based on the findings.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny has said sentencing needs to reflect community expectations and the current Act has not been examined with that aim in more than three decades.
The government said its tougher bail laws were already working, with bail refusals at record highs and remand decisions up nearly 70 per cent.
But State Nationals leader Danny O'Brien, who has pointed to an 18 per cent rise in crime across South Gippsland, has said the changes do not go far enough.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
