A 15-year-old boy has been charged over a spree of attempted home invasions targeting luxury vehicles on the Northern Beaches, with police alleging he and armed accomplices allegedly prowled through residential streets in the early hours of 28 September.
Investigators from Strike Force Sweetenham, which was set up to investigate the growth in this crime category, arrested the teenager on 30 October, charging him with multiple offences related to incidents across Killarney Heights, Avalon Beach, Collaroy, and Collaroy Plateau, where offenders attempted to break into four homes over a three-hour period, successfully stealing bank cards from a BMW that were later used fraudulently in Sydney’s CBD.
The arrest represents a significant development in ongoing investigations into a series of break-ins that have alarmed Northern Beaches residents, particularly those with high-performance vehicles parked in their driveways. It is an issue recently brought to the fore by a widely-read article and video on Manly Observer, though we re not aware of any evidence linking this boy and his associates to the event in our article last month.
On Thursday, 30 October 2025, Strike Force Sweetenham investigators arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy from the St George area for a series of offences committed on the Northern Beaches on the night of 27 and 28 September 2025.
At about 2:20am on 28 September, at a home on Killarney Dr, Killarney Heights, two co-offenders (who were both armed with knives) and the charged teen are alleged to have activated the house alarm when they entered the front garden. All three fled the scene.
At about 3:11am on the same night, the accused went to a home on Old Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach with a co-offender who was armed with a knife. Police said they walked up the driveway and approached the front door where he attempted to open the front door, but it was locked. They left the property.
At around 3:30am the accused went to a home in Alexander Street, Collaroy with co-offenders, walked up the driveway and down the side of the property. They were unable to gain access to the house and left.
At 4:10am, the accused, in the company of other offenders, attempted to enter a house on Foller Street, Collaroy Plateau. They tried the front door, but it was locked. However, police said the offence was recorded on CCTV. They diverted their attention to a BMW parked in the driveway and stole a bag from the front cabin that contained bank cards.
At 5:00am, the victim from the Collaroy Plateau home received text messages alerting her to suspicious card transactions in the Sydney CBD.
All the above incidents were reported to Northern Beaches Police, and investigators from Strike Force Sweetenham took over as they investigate aggravated break and entry to homes and the theft of cars.
On 30 October 2025, the 15-year-old boy was arrested and taken to Surry Hills Police Station where he was charged with ‘Aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence (attempt)’, ‘three counts of Enter land with intent’, ‘Dishonestly obtain property by deception’ and one count of ‘Larceny for stealing property’ from a Sydney store on the day of his arrest. He was also charged with breaching bail.
He was refused bail by police and remained in custody to appear at Surry Hills Children’s Court on 31 October.
On Friday (31 October), he was refused bail at Surry Hills Children’s Court until 10 December.
Read our earlier coverage on similar events:
Armed intruders targeting Northern Beaches homes with luxury cars in the driveway
Cryptocurrency scam results in $1 million lost by Avalon resident
On Monday, 27 October 2025, someone impersonating a member of the cryptocurrency exchange platform known as Kraken contacted an Avalon resident online.
The offender convinced the victim to shut down his account to prevent theft and convinced the victim to reveal enough details that enabled the theft of over $1 million in bitcoin.
The matter was reported to the police, and an investigation will look at tracing the bitcoin with help from the State Crime Command Cybercrime Squad.
Manly Vale man blackmailed in sextortion scam
On Wednesday, 19 October 2025, a man in his early twenties talked to an unknown person on Instagram.
The conversation took a sexual turn, and they moved the conversation to another online platform where intimate photos were shared.
The unknown person then demanded payment or threatened to send the victim’s intimate photos to his family and friends.
The victim transferred a small amount hoping it would halt the threat.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning, and the scammer extorted more than $1500 from the victim before he sought advice from the police.
Police explained sextortion is a form of online blackmail, and advice from the eSafety Commissioner includes stopping contact, collecting evidence such as screenshots, blocking the offender, and not to pay money.
In the case above, no images were shared, but it was a costly and unsettling lesson. The funds were deposited into an account believed to be in the Philippines.
Paypal impersonator nets $4,000 in Apple iTunes gift cards
On Monday, 29 October 2025, a Mosman woman received a phone call from a woman pretending to be from the PayPal Fraudulent Transaction Team.
The caller claimed to have detected a fraudulent transaction in New Zealand and instructed the victim to purchase $2,000 worth of Apple gift cards to assist PayPal in verifying her IP address and identification.
The victim bought the gift cards from Coles Warringah Mall and provided the gift card PIN numbers to another imposter who made a follow-up call.
The tall story continued, and the victim was tricked again and believed the gift cards did not work, so she bought another $2,000 worth.
The victim went to Frenchs Forest Police Station while still on the phone to the scammer. Police detected a heavy Indian accent and advised the victim to end the call and stop complying.
The police reminded people to be alarmed when they receive cold calls about fraudulent transactions and the mention of Apple iTunes gift cards. Police advised people to hang up and call their financial institution to verify any dubious contact.
