Thieves target couple in brazen daylight robbery in Fitzroy, Melbourne

A Victorian couple’s plans for the next big chapter in their lives have been upended with their childhood treasures and more than $15,000 worth of belongings stolen in a brazen daylight robbery.

Joanna Sinz and Archie Grant were saying goodbye to family in Fitzroy on Tuesday afternoon when they were targeted by two opportunistic thieves.

The couple had parked both of their cars — each packed with belongings ahead of their move to Queensland — nearby while they said their farewells.

But as the Traralgon couple made their way back to the vehicles, Sinz spotted her bag on the ground and alarm bells immediately sounded in her head.

“We ... had a moment of realisation that someone’s probably broken into one of the cars, so we legged it,” Grant told 7NEWS.com.au.

They saw the front passenger side window of one car, parked on Young St, had been smashed, and their panic quickly escalated as they remembered the spare key for the other car had been in the glove box.

The pair ran to the other car, a black Subaru XV sedan parked on Leicester St, but it was too late.

CCTV obtained by 7NEWS showed two offenders, who appear to be teenage boys, were already inside the couple’s second car.

Sinz and Grant ran to the car and tried to pull the pair from the vehicle but were unsuccessful.

Footage shows the offenders driving off, with Grant giving chase and Sinz collapsing onto the ground.

“I just remember yelling out ‘This is everything, this is all we’ve got … don’t take it’,” Grant said.

Everything the couple owned was inside the Subaru, including clothes, a TV, laptop and iPads worth up to $15,000 and the more important irreplaceable items including family photos and childhood teddy bears.

Sinz said in hindsight trying to stop the thieves wasn’t the safest thing to do, but she couldn’t stand back and watch them take all of her things.

“Adrenaline was running and I didn’t want them to take our stuff,” she said.

“Take the car, that’s insured, but the stuff in it (we) can’t get that back.

“It’s special to us but (means) nothing to them.”

A man walking his dog in Fitzroy on Wednesday morning stumbled upon the dumped stolen laptop and returned it to the couple.

They hope the rest of their belongings will show up and have asked the public to keep an eye out.

“We don’t expect there to be anything left but please keep an eye out for (any) random belongings or clothes in the area,” Grant said.

Despite the incident, the couple still plan to move to Queensland in the next few days.

Police say officers found a Nike sneaker which they believe belonged to one of the offenders at the scene.

Detectives investigating the incident have urged anyone with any information to contact Crime Stoppers.

A GoFundMe page has been started to help the couple make some money to replace the items.