A string of Northern Beaches shops suffered damages and losses during a spate of overnight break ins on Tuesday morning, 1 September 2026.
CCTV footage obtained by Manly Observer shows two bottle shops having their front doors violently smashed in before dozens of vodka bottles were stolen in both locations. First hit was Porters Liquor, located on Sydney Road in Balgowlah, where what appear to be youths were captured on video throwing bricks and kicking in a security door until its frame finally gives out.
“I was woken up by the police, and you know, insurance people and all sorts of things happening. It was full-on on Tuesday,” Porters store manager, Lisa Gusavac, retold, working a 17-hour day to make up for the repercussions of the thieves’ actions.
“You can actually see in the reflection on the glass, he’s got an armful of Belvedere, Grey Goose, and Absolut. And then the alarm sounds, and he drops two bottles of Belvedere on his way out.”
The break-in occurred around 2 am and only lasted a few minutes. During this time, the thieves managed to cause significant property damage before leaving the store with 17 bottles of vodka and escaping in a vehicle stolen from Forestville, according to police who investigated the scene. Police also said the same two suspects were seen at five to seven stores.
Shortly after, at 2.30 am a similar looking duo drove to Garden Street at Warriewood, and broke into Liquor IGA and the cafe Eleven11 using the same method of launching a brick through the front entrance.
“They ripped the register out of the wall and took off with it. Did a bit of damage to the POS system itself, and you know, obviously we had to get the glass repaired for where they smashed the rock through,” said Peter Cosentino, who has owned the cafe Eleven11 for more than a decade.
“From us, in the IGA, they took advantage of the vodka. Took about eight bottles off there, off the shelf, but, you know, decent value there… What do you do?” IGA Liquor store manager Deon Epplett added.
The criminal can be seen in the CCTV footage entering the IGA through a self-made hole in the front entrance, attempting to take money from the register and then moving onto the vodka, filling up a shopping basket with the alcohol. Shortly after, the thief is seen leaving the store once the alarm sounds, struggling to fit the shopping basket through the hole in the glass.
“What do you do, mate? Like it’s just bad parenting at the moment, isn’t it?” Peter exclaimed.
In the past year, there has been a trend in bottle shop crimes among groups of youths on the Northern Beaches, mainly loot-and-run during operating hours. However, this recent string of break-ins brings another level of severity, adding property damage to the list of crimes.
The action also goes outside the previous analysis of young car thieves. Police previously called them ‘opportunistic ‘ who will most likely not attempt to break into the premises if it’s left locked. The alleged youths broke this trend on Tuesday morning, using excessive force to enter the Balgowlah and Warriewood stores following the theft of a car in Forestville. Police have not yet shared the names of the other stores that were broken into that morning.
Detectives and forensics have visited both known scenes and allegedly found the fingerprints of one of the thieves who wasn’t wearing gloves on multiple surfaces around the Balgowlah Porters.
“It’s, you know, a couple of $1,000 worth of alcohol. They’ve just got no morals,” said Lisa, who has had her week turned upside down by the break-in. “I’ve got a company today coming to secure [the glass]; once the automatic door is working properly, and having it idiot proofed.”
Balgowlah Porters Liquor, Warriewood IGA and Eleven11 are still operating as usual.
“The awesome part was our customers. Like they were really sorry to hear what happened last night and that’s the community that we’re sort of in here,” Deon said.
“I’ve had two great days, and it’s been great to see the support that I’ve had from the community. It’s kind of a loss for words with it.” Peter agreed.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information that may assist police, including relevant dashcam footage from the area at the time, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the Crime Stoppers website.
