Mum and baby caught up in carjacking spree, suspect found sleeping in stranger’s bed

A five-hour crime spree in Melbourne has come to an unsettling end only when a 14-year-old boy found an alleged car thief sleeping in his mother’s bed.

The drama started earlier, when police allege Stanley Taefu targeted a mother as she was putting her four-month-old in the car.

They claim the accused 33-year-old opened the front door and pulled a grandmother out of the driver’s seat.

Seconds later, he ran away empty-handed and quickly moved onto his next alleged victim.

“All of a sudden, a guy grabbed me, he opened my door, he’s pulled me out of the car, threatened to assault me, threatened to beat me up,” one alleged victim said.

“I put my hands up, ready to defend myself and that’s when he ran off.”

Police allege the crime spree started even earlier, on a nearby street at 11am.

He allegedly stole a Ford by carjacking an 88-year-old man who is partially deaf and blind.

The vehicle was dumped less than a kilometre away before Taefu allegedly tried to take more cars. 

The accused later broke into a Werribee home, where the teenage boy found Taefu sleeping in his mother’s bed.

Alesya Kuretskaya said her son made the discovery when he arrived home from school, armed himself with a Minecraft hammer and called for help.

“He come my room, saw this very, very big man sleeping my bed,” Kuretskaya said.

“He very big stress and shock, but he did very, very good job, by the way. 

“Very bravo, son.”

One neighbour said the situation would have left her “so petrified”.

“Just walking in and seeing a grown-ass man in my bed,” she said.

The court heard Taefu was withdrawing from ice, and started taking drugs after he lost his job last month.

His lawyer said he should be granted bail because he has no prior convictions, but the magistrate refused.

He will be back at court in September.