Victim’s horror after drone-jacking

Damindu Dewage was attacked and had his drone stolen by crooks on New Year''s Day. 189217_01

By Rowan Forster

A Pakenham father has been blindsided and repeatedly punched to the head by a gang of thugs armed with baseball bats and crow bars during a nightmare Gumtree transaction in Heritage Springs.

Damindu Dewage was attempting to sell a top-of-the-range drone – with a retail value of $11,000 – when he was bashed and dragged hundreds of metres by a moving car.

On New Year’s Day, Mr Dewage arranged for a prospective buyer to inspect the drone through the classifieds website.

A group of men arrived at the Landy Circuit property and asked to test the gadget’s aerial camera.

One of the alleged thieves placed the drone inside their vehicle, a green Holden VT Commodore, when Mr Dewage asked for the arranged $4000 payment.

“I asked him where the money was and he said, ‘what money’, and then he tried to drive off,” Mr Dewage said.

“As he tried to take, I jumped into the passenger side of the car.

“He started punching me to the head, hitting me more than five times, and then he kicked me out of the car while it was moving.”

After he was hurled from the car, Mr Dewage rushed home – covered in blood – to alert police.

The Pakenham father suffered a gruesome four centimetre gash to his forehead, believed to have been caused by a ring on the thug’s knuckle.

As he was dragged along the asphalt, Mr Dewage also suffered grazing and burns to his arms and legs.

The culprits escaped with the drone.

Mr Dewage was admitted to Casey Hospital to have his injuries treated.

“It was terrifying,” he added.

“I was in the emergency department for almost a day after.”

Two of the men are described as being of Caucasian appearance, aged between mid and late 20s.

Mr Dewage believes the perpetrators were to commit a robbery.

“They had a number of weapons and masks inside the car,” he said.

He and his 15-year-old son Kawishka went outside to meet the men.

“I just saw dad hanging on and the car was going round and round, doing burnouts,” Kawishka recalled.

As Gumtree does not offer buyer protection, the Dewage family has been left thousands of dollars out of pocket.Police are investigating but have not yet made any arrests.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.