A Manly Wharf shop attendant was assaulted after confronting a number of teens for shoplifting in his convenience store.
At about 5.00pm on Sunday, 2 March 2025, five teenagers, three boys and two girls, aged between 13 and 15 entered a Manly Wharf convenience store and allegedly stole items.
The shop attendant chased the teens out of the store and challenged them. He recovered the stolen property, but one teen allegedly punched him in the face before they all ran off.
Police arrived at the scene and were informed by Manly Wharf security that the teenagers, who were not from the area, had boarded the ferry to Circular Quay, but it was being held for police.
Police arrested the alleged offenders and took three of them to Manly Police Station. Two of the boys will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act for assault and shoplifting.
The shop attendant, who is in his twenties, received a black eye and chipped teeth but did not need medical treatment.
More on this week’s Crime Watch Northern Beaches…
Stolen e-bike returned to owner
Last Sunday morning, 2 March 2025, an unknown man stole an e-bike while the owner was at work. The owner rode her e-bike to work, secured it to a pole outside of her Manly workplace and several hours later, in daylight, an unknown man cut the lock and stole the e-bike and helmet.
The owner reported the theft to the police and provided the e-bike’s serial number.
The following day, acting on information from the community, police attended a premises at Pittwater Rd, Manly and recovered the e-bike which was secured to a fence.
Police returned the e-bike to the owner, who had only purchased it one month before the theft.
Police continue to warn e-bike owners that e-bikes are a hot commodity on the Beaches and are often difficult to trace once stolen. On this occasion, the owner had both a photo of the bike and the serial number recorded, and this made it easy for police to identify the stolen item.
Inquiries are continuing to identify the thief.
Scammers pose as a Telstra employee and takes off with $10,000
On Thursday, 6 March 2025, a Collaroy man in his eighties received a call from a person claiming to be from Telstra. The caller told the victim his computer was compromised and his bank details might be visible online. The victim thought it was a genuine call because he has a Telstra account. The caller convinced the victim to download AnyDesk so he could help fix the problem.
The scammer accessed the victim’s bank account and withdrew over $10,000. The victim deleted the AnyDesk app and changed his passwords, but it was too late to recover his money.
AnyDesk is legitimate software and serves a purpose for IT remote access solutions. However, it is also used by offenders to trick people into giving them access to computers. Police are urging the community to be firm and ignore calls from unknown people who ask to use AnyDesk.
Crime Watch Northern Beaches is a weekly wrap up of local crimes and incidents from the Northern Beaches Police Area Command. If you saw or can help with any of the below incidents, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or here. All calls are treated in the strictest confidence. You can also contact Dee Why Police Station 9971 3399.
