Remember me
A young tradie repeatedly targeted by thieves has finally tracked down their lair after his stolen AirPods led him to their door - but has had to wait while police 'investigate'.
Blake Mendola, 18, has repeatedly had his work tools stolen from outside his Werribee home, in Melbourne's west.
The apprentice carpenter previously had more than $10,000 worth of tools stolen from his ute, which was parked in front of the family property.
He never got them back.
But when late-night thieves broke into his ute again on February 27, their greed and stupidity should have been their undoing.
The thieves tossed Blake's makeshift replacement tools across his front lawn and instead took his soccer bag holding about $400 worth of gear and his Apple AirPods.
Carrying out his own investigation, Blake was able to pinpoint the AirPods using the Find My phone app, which also works for AirPods.
The AirPods were found to be 'pinging' just a short distance from Blake's family home.
Blake Mendola's ute has been broken into twice. Now he knows who has his gear, but cops say they need to investigate further
'I thought I'd call the police and they could just go down there and get my stuff back,' Blake told Daily Mail.
'I told them exactly where they were and they told me to sit tight and they'd deal with it.'
But they did not.
Instead, Blake staked out the house for days while his repeated calls to police fell on deaf ears.
Blake's mum Nicole Mendola told Daily Mail they were reluctant to confront the suspected crooks because they lived in a rough neighbourhood.
'Blake was so upset that day,' she said. 'He had a soccer game the next day and had to wear his dirty old pair of boots. He had paid $300 for them.'
Mrs Mendola said her son had been in his third year as an apprentice carpenter and the repeated thefts had set him back.
'He works very hard. Early starts and very long days. Six months ago he had $10,000 worth of tools stolen and he saved the money himself for every single one of those tools,' she said.
Blake's AirPods ping on the FInd My app. Victoria Police is 'investigating'
'Thank God he had insurance. Since then he has learnt never to leave anything of value in there. He just didn't think when he left his soccer bag that someone would take that.'
The family cannot understand why police cannot find time to help them despite seemingly handing them the villains on a platter.
'It's just disgusting how Blake had told them that he had the exact location and they couldn't make the time to go there,' Mrs Mendola said.
'Even the following day. They couldn't even call him back to let him know what was happening. They probably stole from other cars that night too. They might have had a stash of other people's things.'
A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail police were carrying out an investigation.
'Investigators have been told unknown offenders stole a number of items from a parked vehicle ... some time between 9.30pm on February 26 and 5.45am February 27,' the spokesperson said.
'The victim woke to find items including AirPods, bags, tools and glasses missing before reporting the matter to police. The investigation is ongoing.'
Thefts from motor cars have been a scourge across Melbourne's west for years, with reported incidents continuing to skyrocket.
Blake's tools have been swiped from his ute before. This time the crooks discarded most of them and stole his soccer gear instead
In the municipality of Wyndham, where Blake's car was hit, theft from vehicles climbed 34 per cent over the latest reporting period, with thousands of incidents recorded.
In the 12 months to September 30 last year, 86,600 thefts from motor vehicles were recorded in Victoria, up 18,577.
As it stands, it is a category regarded as one of the fastest growing and most common alongside retail thefts and actual stolen vehicles.
Theft from motor vehicles has been a major driver of Victoria’s overall crime surge - a subject that could decide the next state election.
High-profile Melbourne criminal lawyer George Balot, of Balot Reilly Criminal Lawyers, told Daily Mail he had struggled to make contact with police in Wyndham.
'Policing resources in parts of Melbourne’s west are stretched extremely thin,' he said.
'As criminal lawyers, we frequently contact local stations to follow up the disclosure of evidentiary material in matters before the courts. In my experience, reaching stations such as Wyndham can be extraordinarily difficult — at times it is challenging even to get through on the phone to make enquiries.
'If practitioners are encountering those barriers, it is not surprising that members of the public can feel frustrated when trying to have matters progressed or escalated to a formal investigation.'
Criminal lawyer George Balot said police often struggled to get search warrants even when a victim produces what appears to be clear evidence of a crime
Mr Balot said police often struggled to get search warrants even when a victim produces what appears to be clear evidence of a crime.
'From a victim’s perspective, it can feel as though the technology has already done the investigative work for police,' he said.
'However, a location signal alone will not always meet the legal threshold required to search private property.
'Officers must still establish reasonable grounds and, in many cases, obtain a warrant before entering a residence.
'That legal safeguard can create an understandable disconnect between what victims can see on their phones and what police are lawfully able to do.'
Police urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.