A couple are accused of swiping four newly delivered smart televisions worth almost $2800 from the loading dock of Harvey Norman Warrawong.
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Port Kembla resident Grant Petersen, 41, and Wollongong woman Carlee Smedley both fronted Wollongong Local Court on Sunday, each charged with larceny.
Police documents said it was about 4.45pm on Saturday when Petersen and Smedley allegedly drove up in a hired ute to the loading dock of the store's warehouse, where earlier that afternoon a delivery of new TVs had been left to be moved into storage.
Petersen was allegedly captured on CCTV loading four TVs - two TCL 50-inch smart TVs and two Hisense 50-inch smart TVs, together worth $2780 - into the back of the ute, while Smedley sat in the passenger seat.
Police alleged the pair then drove to Smedley's Church Street unit.
A witness contacted the vehicle hire company and the ute was allegedly tracked using GPS from Harvey Norman in Warrawong to Smedley's home.
At 5.45pm there was a call to triple-0 stated the accused were allegedly unloading TVs from the ute into the unit.
The witness was outside the unit and saw the TVs inside, one of which had been unboxed and placed on the TV cabinet.
They knocked on the door and Petersen allegedly began to throw the TVs from the balcony onto the grass outside.
Police arrived shortly and arrested the pair before taking them to Wollongong police station, where they were charged.
In court on Sunday, Legal Aid solicitor Anastasia Socorro said Smedley would defend the charges but faced a lengthy wait for a hearing.
Ms Socorro said Smedley was setting up her own cleaning business and was living at a new address that was providing her with significant stability.
But prosecutor Sergeant Ashley Jacob said Smedley had a poor record and faced a jail sentence if found guilty of the crime.
On behalf of Petersen, Ms Socorro said there were alternatives to full-time custody if he was convicted, and noted he had a gap in his criminal record between 2011 and 2018.
She said Petersen received methadone daily, but was unable to get it until Monday afternoon in custody and he was already beginning to feel ill.
Sergeant Jacob told the court Petersen was already on bail and community corrections orders for property offences and had a record of non-compliance with court orders.
Registrar Cally D'Arcy refused bail for both, saying she did not know what conditions she could impose to minimise the risk of offending.
Ms D'Arcy said both had lengthy histories, but noted that Petersen appeared to play a larger role in the alleged offending than his partner.
Petersen and Smedley were remanded in custody to appear at Wollongong Local Court on Monday.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
