Danny and Leila Abdallah at Parramatta court after the sentencing of fatal crash driver Samuel Davidson. Photo / News Ltd
Danny and Leila Abdallah at Parramatta court after the sentencing of fatal crash driver Samuel Davidson. Photo / News Ltd
The grieving parents who lost three of their children in a horrific car crash in Sydney's northwest last year have been targeted in a brazen home invasion.
Danny and Leila Abdallah's home was broken into by an unknown man on Wednesday, police said.
The couple's children Antony, Angelina and Sienna, as well as their cousin Veronique Sakr, were killed in February last year, when they were ploughed down by out-of-control car as they went to buy icecream at Oatlands.
The break-in occurred within weeks of the drunk and drug-affected driver being sentenced to at least 21 years' jail.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Mrs Abdallah, who was home at the time, said she realised the man had gone upstairs to her bedroom and opened her bedside table where she has photos of her kids.
Leila Abdallah with her children, three of which were killed in the Oatlands crash. Photo / News Ltd
She explained the man also took a watch which reminded her of her daughter Angelina who was with her when she purchased it.
"They invaded our privacy," Mrs Abdallah said.
The thief also took her bag and jewellery. She said the family was trying to determine whether they also took one of the children's phones.
"I'm sure they (the thief) didn't realise it was us (living here)," she said.
"But then again they might do it to any other family who is grieving."
Mrs Abdallah was home with a friend when she noticed an unknown man fleeing the home, in the western suburbs, through the front door.
"I was shocked," she said.
"People are looking at this thinking 'these people have been through enough this year'."
She believes the man was likely in the house for at least 10 minutes and went through several bedrooms but she was too absorbed by going through pictures of her children alongside her friend at the back of the house.
Police said the man fled the Robert St home at Telopea in a stolen white Audi which was being driven by another man.
A man dressed in black pants and a black hoodie was spotted running from the home with a bag in his hand, which was captured on security footage.
A short time later emergency services were called to a house on Kissing Point Rd at Dundas, after reports of an attempted robbery.
A 35-year-old man had parked his vehicle in the driveway of a home where he was working, and when he returned he saw an unknown man getting out of the driver's seat of the car.
When confronted, the man then ran to the passenger side of a white Audi, which was parked a short distance away, and the vehicle drove away.
Police have launched an investigation into the incidents which they believe are linked, but have so far been unable to find the vehicle or the offenders.
The Audi is believed to have been stolen from a home at North Rocks on April 26 or 27.
CCTV footage released by police shows a man in black pants and a black hoodie running from the home with a bag in his hand. Photo / NSW Police
The crime is a low blow against the Abdallah family who have been grappling with the deaths of their three children and niece.
It comes only a month after Samuel Davidson, 30, was sentenced to 28 years in prison, with 21 years non-parole, over the deaths, after he drove into the group of children.
Cumberland Police Area Commander Detective Superintendent Darryl Jobson described the home invasion as "abhorrent," particularly given what all the victims have been through over the past year.
"In the last 12 months the victims of the Telopea incident have endured an incredible ordeal and I appeal to the conscience of the people responsible for the crime to hand themselves into the police," he said.
The man is described as caucasian, about 183cm tall, aged between 20 and 25 with a skinny build and blond/light coloured hair.
He was wearing a black baseball cap, a black face mask, black track pants and a blue hooded jumper.
