Chief says ‘no silver bullet’ for town under attack by criminals

An Alice Springs business operator has described a town under siege from uncontrolled petty crime after one of the town’s landmark cafes was trashed last weekend.

Lisa Perry was on her way to Alice Springs to spend a fortnight working with her staff at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Cafe when she received a call from the manager of the cafe informing her of the damage, which she estimated to be between $15000 and $20000.

Vandals had broken into the heritage-listed site, thrown enamel paint over windows and fridges, broken bottles of soft drink and thrown ice-creams around the cafe. They’d also turned off the power, causing the cafe to loose thousands of dollars worth of refrigerated stock.

Ms Perry told ABC Radio she and her manager and staff were “surprised and hurt”  that people could cause such malicious damage to a beautiful old building.

“They were obviously there to create havoc and to cost us money,” Ms Perry said.

Ms Perry, whose home has also been broken into,  said no town in Australia was immune from petty crime. “But the level of it, the malice and the disrespect for authority is real eye-opener,” she said.

“We need the opportunity to talk to our Chief Minister. We’re screaming but he doesn’t make the time to meet with us.

“It’s a really horrible thing. I think people are scared in their homes. People aren’t sleeping well at night. You wake up and go ‘What’s happened last night?’ —  (because) every night of the week something has happened.

“How many houses were broken into last night? How many cars were stolen? We’re constantly getting slammed.

“We should be getting extra help. I know (Chief Minister Michael Gunner)  saying he’s throwing all the help that he can get but it’s just not enough. He needs to talk to the business owners, he needs to talk to the residents who are scared.”

Mr Gunner had told Darwin media the government was doing everything it could to fight crime in Alice Springs, but there was “no silver bullet”.

 “I actually get that there are people out there who’re scared,” he said on ABC Radio Darwin.

“They’re worried about crime. We’re doing a lot, and I get it that if you’re a victim of crime then what we’re doing hasn’t been enough for you. So we’ve always got to keep doing more.”

Police have reported several more incidents of criminal damage since the RFDS incident.

Offenders had rammed and damaged the outside wall of a supermarket on Milner Road in an attempt to break in.

In another incident revealed by CCTV footage on Monday night, two men broke into a supermarket in Braitling, causing some damage and leaving with an empty cash till.

In the town’s industrial area, offenders broke into a truck yard and started up a prime mover, striking and damaging two other vehicles parked at the yard. They drove a truck from the yard before crashing it on Brown Street and fleeing the scene. Police said the truck was extensively damaged.

Strike Force Viper has asked anyone with information which may assist in identifying persons involved in this incident, to contact them on 131 44 or report it anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.