Gang of thieves prowls station carpark
If there was an Olympics event for regularly chasing down car thieves while running a panelbeating shop, Keith Graham could be a gold medallist.
From his Eastern Hutt Panel and Paint shop, Graham has a direct view of the Taita Station park and ride.
Over just two days last week, nine cars were broken into at the carpark. Two had their ignitions tampered with.
On Friday, Graham and a staff member just missed out on nabbing a pair of thieves. He thinks they would have been able to sneak up and catch them if an alarm hadn’t started.
Graham has seen the thieves in action enough times over the years to know their modus operandi.
‘‘They send an older person down who marks out the cars they want. Then young people go in and break into those cars.’’
The school holidays were really busy, with lots of suspicious looking heads bobbing up and down in the car park. ‘‘It was non-stop.’’ When Graham or his staff notice anything unusual happening, they rush over the road. Normally the thieves scarper at the sight of their blue overalls.
‘‘One time I tried to stop a guy driving the car away. He nearly ran me over.’’
Of the cars broken into last week, one Mitsubishi had to be towed away because of how much the ignition barrel had been damaged. It was the second time it had been broken into in a fortnight and the third in six months.
Owner Kris Dando said he was ‘‘shocked and dismayed’’ by how many break-ins there were at the station. He couldn’t understand why there were no CCTV cameras in place to deter thieves.
‘‘It’s not a good thing when the council are advocating public transport at every turn if the carpark keeps on being hit.’’
A police spokesperson said they were aware of five reported thefts from cars and one unlawful interference with a vehicle at Taita Station since October 12.
‘‘Items taken from the vehicles have included money, sunglasses, and a USB cable,’’ they said. ’’Hutt Valley Police are looking at deploying officers to the area.’’
Taita’s park and ride isn’t the only one on the line without CCTV. Ava, Epuni, Naenae, Wingate, Manor Park, Heretaunga, Wallaceville, and Upper Hutt’s stations also have car parks without cameras.