A Glen Iris family has been left terrorised after bandits, including a 13-year-old girl, stormed their home masquerading as police and wielding golf clubs.
Homeowner Sue, told radio station 3AW they were woken in the early hours of Sunday morning by some noise.
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Bandits pose as police: Glen Iris home invasion
A Glen Iris family has been left terrorised after bandits, including a 13-year-old girl, stormed their home masquerading as police and wielding gold clubs. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
"I heard a noise coming up the stairs, I assumed it was my son coming home from a party," she said.
She told Channel Seven the group came into their main bedroom and ordered them to get on the floor.
"They came around the door, shone torches and shouted, 'Police! Police! Get on the floor'," she said.
"It's terrifying. In fact, you almost can't quite believe it is real. It feels quite surreal, as though you are in a horrible nightmare."
Sue told Channel Nine: "If we didn't do what they said, the fear was that we would get beaten up with a golf club, so you don't argue."
Sue's son Olly slept through the ordeal, but fears what could have happened if the situation escalated.
![Home invasion victim: Sue.](/web/20170330173333im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/8/j/l/9/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gv8i26.png/1490733003865.jpg)
"It makes me really angry that they came into our family home. It would have turned really badly, really quickly," he told Channel Nine.
The thieves stole the family's silver Mercedes B 200 sedan with registration AJB 180, as well as mobile phones and an iPad.
![Images from CCTV footage show the thieves driving off in a Mercedes stolen from the Glen Iris house.](/web/20170330173333im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/8/j/e/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gv8i26.png/1490733003865.jpg)
Detectives were reportedly able to track the thieves using the Find My Phone app on the family's stolen mobile phones and monitored the group as they drove onto the Monash Freeway.
The stolen Mercedes travelled 52 kilometres from Glen Iris to Pakenham.
One teenager was arrested following an aggravated burglary at a house on Macdonald Street, Glen Iris, about 3.40am, a police spokeswoman said.
A 13-year-old Pakenham girl has been charged with aggravated burglary and bailed to face the children's court at a later date.
Sue praised the police, but felt the perpetrators often got away with just a "slap on the wrist".
"The danger is that they aren't suitably punished ... and are out doing it again and terrifying somebody else," she said.
Earlier this month, Police Minister Lisa Neville conceded there was a long way to go before people could feel "safe in their homes", following a surge in violence home invasions.
Home invasions have soared in Melbourne's south-east, with Cranbourne, Skye and Devon Meadows becoming hot spots for aggravated burglaries, according to the latest crime data.
Last year, police recorded an aggravated burglary once every three days in postcode 3977, which takes in Cranbourne and Skye. There were 125 violent break-ins last year, up from 56 in 2015.
The stolen Mercedes is yet to be found and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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