A furious Queensland father has scared off a gang of car thieves by bellowing at them in remarkable security footage, as he warned neighbourhoods are ready to go to war with youth criminals.
Stephen Lee’s explosive shouting sent four thieves fleeing just before 2am Wednesday morning at Bridgeman Downs in Brisbane‘s northern suburbs after he spotted two men approaching his neighbour’s car.
Mr Lee warned that people in his street, and neighbourhoods across the state, are ready to fight back against criminals after the alleged stabbing death of Emma Lovell during an alleged home invasion on Boxing Day.
A furious Queensland father has scared off a gang of car thieves by bellowing at them in remarkable security footage (pictured)
Two teenagers were charged with her murder.
When an alert on Mr Lee’s home security system woke him up at 1.48am on Wednesday, he instinctively ‘rolled over’ to check the live footage.
Seeing two men sneak into his neighbour Jarryd’s driveway, towards his SUV, Mr Lee, 50, jumped up to to raise the alarm.
‘Nobody’s got any business being there at that time of night. Straight away I knew what was going on,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I opened my blind and saw a car with four guys in in, two jumped out, so I opened the window and let them have it, both barrels.
‘Oi mother***er, get the f*** outta here,’ he is heard yelling on the security footage, which was taken from his neighbour’s front door.
Stephen Lee’s explosive shouting sent four thieves fleeing just before 2am Wednesday morning at Bridgeman Downs in Brisbane’s north after he spotted two men approaching his neighbour’s car
Mr Lee said families across Queensland are ready to defend themselves against violent youth criminals. Pictured, Stephen and Hayley Lee
‘Jarryd! C**** are trying to steal your car.’
Mr Lee said some neighbours have joked he should copyright his voice and sell it as an an alarm, but for him and others there’s a very serious side to the incident.
Mr Lee told Daily Mail Australia his response was genuine anger at the would-be thieves.
‘Some things really trigger you, where you just explode and this was one of those things,’ Mr Lee said.
‘I grew up in Penrith, a poor suburb with nothing. I’ve busted my a*** to get where we are. And here’s these guys in our street, targeting our families and they’ve got the hide to try and steal what we work hard for?
‘You motherf***ers have crossed the line. Seriously, they’re gonna pick the wrong house.’
Mr Lee said his neighbour’s wife was in hospital about to give birth and the husband was home caring for three children. Thieves had tried to steal the same car two days before as well, on January 16.
‘And here’s these people coming to try to steal their s***. We’ve all had a gut full of it, it’s getting to the point there’s gonna be a backlash.’
Mr Lee said his neighbours and ‘everyone I talk to’ has installed home security systems. But they feel that’s not enough to keep their families safe.
Mr Lee said he bought a baseball bat in case he has to defend his home.
He made sure to buy a baseball and glove too so if the worse came to the worst, he couldn’t be accused of a premeditated attack on a home invader.
He hopes he only uses the bat for playing with his 12-year-old son.
Mr Lee told Daily Mail Australia his response was genuine anger at the would-be thieves. ‘I grew up poor… I’ve busted my a***… and these guys have the hide to try steal what we’ve worked hard for?’ Pictured, Stephen and Hayley Lee
Emma Lovell (pictured), 43, died on Boxing Day while trying to defend her home from alleged intruders
‘We’ve got to arm ourselves.’
Mr Lee said Queensland families are running out of patience with reassurances from politicians and police.
‘Police keep saying, people, you can’t take matters into own hands… really?
‘So what are you doing about it? You can’t have kids arming themselves and breaking into homes and there not be a revolt. People aren’t gonna stand for it.’
Mr Lee said ‘every second day’ he sees reports of police saying they have ‘never seen anything like’ the current wave of property crimes, especially by young thieves.
‘Ever since the penalties for young offenders were decreased they know they can get away with it.
‘Now there’s teams of them hitting homes from the north coast to the Gold Coast every night.
‘What has to happen for this government to pull its finger out? Annastacia Palaszczuk says magistrates need to deal with it, but hang on, the government makes the laws.’
Ultimately Mr Lee is glad he didn’t run down to engage the car thieves.
‘The problem is if you run down and engage them you could end up in court on manslaughter charges.’
There has been renewed calls for the state government to crack down on repeat youth offenders in the wake of Ms Lovell’s death.
Bouquets of flowers were seen resting against a tree outside the Lovell’s North Lakes home
Criminologist and former detective Terry Goldsworthy said youths were over-represented in multiple crimes committed in the state, including vehicle theft and break-ins.
He’s calling for the state Labor government to bring back the offence of breach of bail for juvenile offenders.
‘They are refusing to bring it back. It needs to be brought back,’ he told Nine’s Today Show in late December.
‘It will make it easier for police to action people who are on bail and breaching conditions.’
