24 car windows smashed during thief’s spree in Sydney carpark

A thief has been caught in the act breaking into vehicles in a carpark in Sydney’s inner-west, with the damage bill to run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

The 40-year-old Auburn man allegedly smashed the windows of 24 cars with a small axe and raided the vehicles for whatever he could find inside at a unit complex underground carpark on Marlborough Road in Homebush West early this morning.

Resident Imlak Zaman returned from a night shift at 4.30am, and upon spotting the man acting suspiciously, grabbed a cricket bat.

“I saw the dude and I got the rush,” he told 9NEWS.

“I took the cricket bat and just chased the dude … cricket bat can’t go wrong mate.”

Security video captured the man as he pulled cameras from the roof of the complex during the 45-minute rampage, in an apparent effort to avoid detection.

The accused thief had started to pile up the loot in a corner of the carpark when police were called.

Officers arrested him on nearby Mandemar Avenue as he fled on a pushbike.

The stolen personal effects have since been returned to their owners.