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[ 20 February - 26 February 2026 ] Kiama Minnamurra Kiama Downs Jamberoo Gerringong Gerroa Shellharbour Shoalhaven
BRAZEN THIEVES PUT VILLAGE ON EDGE John Stapleton They would have been cowering in fear and desperately ringing triple zero, if only they had known. The security camera footage is startling. Three cars were parked in the garage at the luxury residence in Gerroa. There were obviously people at home. But that didn’t stop the brazen attempt at a home invasion recently. The security footage shows two men in hoodies, with masks covering much of their faces. They arrive shortly after 2.50am and can be seen trying the front door, two windows and a side door at the rear of the house. Fortunately for Ian and Janice Dolan, the owners of this picturesque property, and equally fortunately for their three female visitors, all the doors were security-locked and the windows safely secured. They are shocked by the blatant nature of it all. The footage shows the wouldbe home invaders checking
all the car doors at the front of the house, unfazed by the lights coming on. Without any alarms being triggered, the Dolans slept through it all. They only discovered the terrifying incident – which could have ended very badly for both of them – through happenstance. Ian’s sisterin-law, a meticulous person, insisted someone had been in her car and stolen her remote. He brushed it off at first, but she was persistent. Finally, he thought she’s not the sort of person who would misplace anything and he checked the security camera footage. “It is bloody terrifying,” says Ian. “As people get older they feel more vulnerable. How would you like to be an octogenarian and have a stranger roaming through your house? They were so casual. The lights came on at the front of the property and they didn’t even hesitate. “It feels like you lose a lot of your freedom. You should be able to relax and feel free in your home. It is an awful proposition.”
He is thankful there were no young children in the house. “My wife had broken her foot and couldn’t walk at the time. What am I going to do? I am not going to move while they are holding a knife at my wife’s throat. They have no fear. They don’t care whether they kill you or not.” Janice says they are now more diligent: “We live in such a beautiful place, you are always a target. We’re religiously checking; everything is locked all the time.” Ian has dropped leaflets throughout his neighbourhood, warning everyone of what has happened. As a result, residents are updating their cameras and their security. One neighbour, who asked to remain anonymou s, said she was thinking of getting a Bull Terrier.
Her security footage shows the would-be thieves walking past her home at 3.01am. “They were so brazen,” she says. “They were rattling the doors of one of my neighbours. It is frightening.” Potential thieves know the enclave – with spectacular views down Seven Mile Beach – is wealthy. The Dolans bought their property in 2003 for just over a million dollars, then a record for the area. “It was more than I could afford at the time,” says Ian. “There were dolphins jumping out of the surf as Continued - Page 2