Would-be thief flips the finger at Shell Cove home's CCTV

The early morning incident was captured on the Stradbroke Avenue property's CCTV camera and it's left the home's owners worried.

It's 4.10am on Thursday, May 23, and two people can be seen walking along the street trying the door handles of three cars in the camera's view.

One car is parked on the street, another on a nature strip and the third is parked in a driveway.

After the would-be thief can't get into the locked Subaru STI WRX on the driveway he momentarily turns to the home and sticks up their middle finger.

"It's left me worried," Zoran Bogovac said. "If I'd have gone to the gym like usual I would have seen them at my car.

"If I'd left the car unlocked they would have literally gone in and maybe tried to steal the car."

Mr Bogovac only installed CCTV cameras six months ago after strangers banged on the door late at night frightening his family.

The attempted vehicle break-ins occurred only one day after police issued an alert about opportunistic thieves breaking into and stealing cars.

"That is their [thieves] primary way of offending, just continually walking up down the street trying vehicles until they find one," Lake Illawarra Police District Inspector Luke Geradts told the Mercury this week.

During 2023, almost 500 cars were stolen across the Illawarra with eight out of 10 cars taken using the owner's set of keys.

Mr Bogovac said until recently he thought Shell Cove was a safe suburb.

"I'll take everything out now," he said of his beloved car.