There's a Hair Care Crime Wave Sweeping Melbourne

The Bling Ring was a movie about a bunch of cool, real life teens who robbed celebrities of designer clothes and jewellery in the 2000s. This story is kind of like that, but replace all the Chanel and OC stars with Melbourne hair salons and hair straighteners.

This week, three men aged between 24 and 38 have been charged over three burglaries and theft-related offences that took place across Thursday night. Security footage caught them smashing in the front door of Mt Waverley’s Nevo Hair Design early yesterday morning. The noise alerted salon owner Sean Nevo who lives behind the premises. He then chased them out of the store with a pole, hitting one of the offenders.

Reflecting on the confrontation to Channel 10 he called it “Brave.. maybe stupid. I just tried to get as close as possible to the car to get the registration, but I wasn’t thinking. I was just trying to smash that car up but I’m okay.” It was the second time in six weeks someone tried to break into the salon.

Shortly afterwards a Rokk Ebony salon in Rowville was targeted and several hair straighteners were stolen. Investigators are looking into whether the crimes are linked to a similar Essendon burglary last month where two men broke into a Buckley Street salon and made off with a suitcase of product.

It has been a bad month for salon crime. On March 9 the Herald Sun reported that police were looking into a case of a Frankston salon hit up three times in one night. The three separate incidents took place between 2.40AM to 7.30AM.

In the first case, two men broke in the front window and made off with a computer and a television. A few hours later, a passer by stepped through the open window and helped himself to a cash tin. The final bandit faced slimmer pickings. He walked through the open window but only managed to get some shampoo and products.