source : the age
Police say a young man has suffered “life-altering” injuries after intruders stormed his south-western Sydney home and amputated his hand with a machete before stealing a large amount of money from a safe.
The victim was not known to police and the Greenacre home is believed to have been targeted because the family who live there run a prominent and successful business in western Sydney.
NSW Police Superintendent Rodney Hart said the victim, 23, was undergoing surgery on Saturday morning.
“This is a brutal, violent attack, which is extremely traumatic for the family,” Hart said.
“This young man will have received life-altering injuries.”
Police allege a group of four masked men pulled up at the Banksia Road property in a dark SUV just before 2am on Saturday, kicking in the front door and activating the security alarm system, which woke the occupants upstairs.
Armed with bladed weapons, including machetes, the intruders ran upstairs where a confrontation took place.
“At this point, the 23-year-old victim exited his bedroom and was confronted by the males,” Hart said.
“One of the males then struck him with what we believe to be a machete and severed his hand.”
The victim’s father then confronted the offenders, who allegedly forced him to hand over a large amount of cash from a safe in the main bedroom.
The offenders fled the scene and were last seen heading east on Banksia Road.
The parents, a man and woman in their 40s, and their two other sons, aged 16 and 19, were uninjured.
Hart said the family was not known to police and there was no indication that the attack was related to organised crime.
“They are a family who run a business in western Sydney, they’ve run that business for a number of years, they are very well known in the community” he said.
“This does appear to be a targeted home invasion where cash was the motive.
“What we believe is that, somehow, these people were aware that there may have been cash on the premises, and that’s what’s been targeted.”
Hart declined to comment on how much cash was stolen.
Officers spent Saturday morning examining the crime scene, interviewing neighbours and canvassing CCTV footage. They are being assisted by the State Crime Command and Raptor Squad.
Police are appealing for anyone who has dash-cam footage or who was in the area at the time to contact Crime Stoppers.
“We will do our utmost to identify who these people are and bring them before the court,” Hart said.
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