Former AFL star Jimmy Bartel has been forced to use public transport after brazen thieves stole the wheels off his car. Speaking with 3AW host Jacqui Felgate on the Rumour File last week, the 41-year-old footy star revealed the offence occurred while he was on holiday recently. 'I caught the tram in today. Normally I drive in because it's nice and easy but I couldn't drive in because I had all the wheels stolen off my car,' he admitted to Jacqui.

'Unless I was Fred Flintstone and I could pick the car up and come running into work,' he also joked. Jimmy added that the thieves did not even try to hide their crime, brazenly leaving the jacks used to prop up his Mercedes Benz at the scene. 'About a week or so ago, I was away on holidays. I got a phone call from the police,' Jimmy recounted. Jimmy Bartel has been forced to use public transport after thieves stole the wheels off his car.

'You always get a little bit nervous, and they were like: "Are you the owner of this car?" And I go: "I am.". '"Well you won't be driving it too far there's not a wheel left on your car." They even left the big jacks behind and they just dropped it on the road!'. Outraged at Jimmy's news, Jacqui added that such crime had been on the rise in the Melbourne City of Port Phillip, where Jimmy resides. 'This is a disgrace!' Jacqui said.

'And this is the thing with the City of Port Philip, where they've been going around and nicking panels and wheels from people's cars in the street.'. Jimmy anecdotally confirmed Jacqui's claims, admitting that a few neighbours had also been victims. 'I think it's a bit of - like a video game they're almost playing - build your own car,' he said. 'A couple of streets up they took a grill, a few blocks away they took the doors off somebody else's car.'.

Speaking with 3AW host Jacqui Felgate on the Rumour File last week, the 41-year-old footy star revealed the offence occurred while he was on recently. The thieves did not even try to hide their crime, brazenly leaving the jacks used to prop up his Mercedes Benz at the scene. Jimmy added that he was not angry with the thieves, but rather resigned to the fact that such activity was part and parcel of living in Melbourne in 2025.

'It's kind of funny, he said. 'Someone asked me today, "How do you feel?" And I said, "I'm like a parent. I'm not upset, just disappointed."'. 'It's just where we're at,' he added. According to Victoria Police, from March 2023 to March 2024, there were 2,148 reports of car break-ins and stolen items in the city of Port Phillip. This total included 468 incidents in Port Melbourne, 412 in St Kilda, and 410 in South Melbourne.

'Police intelligence indicates most offenders who steal from cars are not from this area, with a small percentage of the community feeling entitled to take what isn’t theirs,' Port Phillip Local Area Commander, Inspector Brett Coloe said in a statement. The news comes after Jimmy revealed he was the victim of a pesky parcel pinching thief in December. It comes after Jimmy revealed he was the victim of a pesky parcel pinching thief in December.

Jimmy shared on 3AW Breakfast that his community had fallen victim to a woman who had been stealing home-delivered parcels from residents. He recounted an incident when he took his two sons, Aston, eight, and Henley, six, to watch a basketball game. During that time, the thief entered his yard and began rummaging through boxes, but was confronted by his partner, Amelia Shepherd. 'I was taking my two boys off to watch the NBL, we got 30 metres away [and] within that time, she watched us leave the house and went straight up our front path and tried to sort through some boxes,' he said.

'Luckily they were empty boxes. My partner was still home and opened the door and said, "Excuse me, can I help you?"'. Jimmy concluded by warning the thief that if this behaviour continued, he would expose her to his 111,000 Instagram followers. 'So if you steal another one, I am posting your photo all over social media. Be warned,' Jimmy sternly said. Jimmy announced the birth of Paloma, who he shares with partner Amelia, on social media in April 2023.

During that time, the thief entered his yard and began rummaging through boxes, but was confronted by his partner, Amelia Shepherd (right). The couple announced they were having a girl during an intimate gender reveal party in October 2022, just a few months after their one-year anniversary. Jimmy was previously married to Nadia Bartel, with whom he shares Aston and Henley. The couple split in mid 2019.