ALLEGED car thieves are using metal hooks to get the keys to hire cars left at depots overnight in crimes not previously seen by police in Perth, East Perth and Burswood.
“It’s never happened before, and no other police district seems to be having an issue with it,” Senior Sergeant Craig Davis told Guardian Express.
Sgt Davis said it would be alleged the hooks were used to get keys from deposit boxes used by customers when they returned hire cars after hours.
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READ NOWOn March 3, a hire car was allegedly taken using the technique from a hire car yard in Burswood, and two more cars were allegedly taken from another yard in the suburb on March 24.
A Rivervale man (36) and an East Perth man (35) have been charged with three counts of stealing a motor vehicle.
They are both remanded in custody to appear at Perth Magistrates Court at a later date.
However, police are still investigating thefts of three other cars separately from Hertz Hire on Adelaide Terrace, East Perth on February 18, Aries Hire, Perth on March 1 and Hertz Hire, Murray Street Perth on April 30.
Sgt Davis said keys to a green Commodore sedan were obtained by a dark-skinned man wearing a black singlet, camouflage pattern shorts and a cap, and a dark-skinned woman wearing a white top and grey trousers.
He said all six vehicles were found in drivable condition in the Victoria Park area, but none appeared to have been used in other crimes.
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