By Jessica Anstice
A brazen thief went on a spending spree after breaking into an Officer man’s work van and stealing a wallet, iPad and tools.
The victims, Bee and Jacob Hocken, were left feeling violated, angry and deflated, when they discovered that the thief had messed with their livelihoods.
Mr Hocken woke up to go to work about 5.30am on Tuesday 14 July, when he received a notification from the pair’s bank account of suspicious activity.
It was soon revealed that the offender had broken into his locked work van, which was parked on Avatar Way in Officer, earlier that morning at about 12.48am.
Mr Hocken’s credit card had been used the same night at 7/11 on Princes Highway in Officer.
The culprit made four transactions using the card’s paywave function, including one at Coles Express in Berwick and online purchases – spending in excess of $700.
According to the bank’s records, the 7/11 transaction was made at 1.39am, while the Coles Express purchase was at 1.53am.
After posting CCTV footage to social media, another resident who had recognised the offender, made contact with Ms Hocken.
“Someone messaged me saying the same person from the 7/11 footage had broken into his dad’s work van three or four days earlier,” she said.
“We’ve also found out by somebody else that the same guy attempted a home invasion where he and his children were living in.”
To replace the Milwaukee hand and power tools tools alone, Ms Hocken estimates it will cost the pair up to $8000, as Mr Hocken had slowly accumulated them over the last 10 years.
Ms Hocken said the incident is likely to significantly put the couple back financially.
“My husband has had a tough time working as he has no tools and almost feels lost and useless,” she said.
“Our goals of having children and starting a family have even been put on hold.
“I’m struggling to sleep at night and paranoid as his crimes seem to be escalating and that I’m scared he may even invade our home.”
These past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for the Hockens, as their beloved family dog Harper was incredibly unwell the week prior to the crime.
The one-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog was at the vets for four days to see specialists, establish what sickness it had and what treatments were required.
“With the vet bills piling up, this incident was just salt to add to our wounds,” Ms Hocken added.
“We thought after getting our pup home we could slowly go back and pick up where we left off.
“My husband picked up extra work on the weekends to make ends meet and now he can’t even do that as his livelihood has been tampered with.”
As for the victims’ message to the offender?
“We would just like him to really think about his actions and how it’s affecting people,” she said.
“We are currently in a pandemic and everyone is struggling as it is. Stealing is not the answer. Get help if he needs.
“And finally if he still has my husband’s tools, please just return them. That’s all we want.”
