Anger drove car chase
Man allegedly hit as he got vehicle back
A WHITFIELD man is recovering after taking the law into his own hands in a bid to retrieve his stolen car.
An offender broke into Clem Vohland’s bedroom while he slept early on Tuesday morning, stealing his keys before leaving in his work vehicle.
In a desperate bid to track the car, Mr Vohland posted his story to social media and Cairns residents alerted him that they had seen it in the DFO carpark at Westcourt.
Mr Vohland, a commercial cleaner, said he and his boss spotted the vehicle about 7.30am and followed it before confronting the driver outside a Mann St unit complex.
“When I ran up to the car I said ‘you bloody bastard, get out of my car’,” Mr Vohland recounted yesterday. “He was pretty shocked to see us.”
He alleged the driver punched him in the head, leaving him with bruising and swelling above the eye, before he fled.
The incident sparked a large-scale police search with the man taken into custody on Lyons St.
Mr Vohland said the incident had left him angry and fearful.
“The last two nights have been hell sleeping,” he said.
Alfred Adu Ropeyarn, 18, appeared in the Cairns Magistrates Court yesterday charged with burglary, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, assault occasioning bodily harm, receiving tainted property and obstructing police.
Defence solicitor Steve Carter said he would plead guilty to receiving tainted property, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and obstruct police. He asked for the case to return to court today with more charges pending against his client who the court heard was on a return to prison warrant.
WHEN I RAN UP TO THE CAR I SAID ‘YOU BLOODY BASTARD, GET OUT OF MY CAR’