Jucy heist: 32 arrests, 90 rentals recovered
Ninety of the 98 vehicles stolen in the massive heist of vehicles from rental company Jucy have been recovered.
Police have charged 32 people over the theft of the vehicles, from a car yard in Ma¯ngere in April.
Police have determined that the vehicles were stolen over several days. They were recovered from dozens of suburbs across Auckland, the majority in Counties Manukau.
Inspector Matt Srhoj, Counties Manukau West area commander, said there were now only eight vehicles outstanding thanks to excellent police work.
Those vehicles were still being sought but their identifying features could have been changed, he said.
“Thanks to the dedicated and sustained effort from the staff involved, we have arrested and charged a total of 32 individuals with a range of offences,” Srhoj said.
“This was a brazen event involving opportunistic offending on a large scale and we are pleased to be able to hold those allegedly involved to account.”
Most of those arrested have been charged in relation to receiving stolen property, with other charges including burglary, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, failing to stop and Health Act breaches.
A number of other individuals were also spoken to during the investigation.
“We would like to acknowledge the support from the public for their information which helped to locate and recover the vehicles,” Srhoj added.
After the theft, Jucy Rentals chief executive Tim Alpe said CCTV and barbed wiring fencing were no deterrent for the thieves, who shouldn’t have been out in the first place.
“We were in full lockdown so it was a very big shock to us given everyone was meant to be at home and off the roads.
“It was . . . really disappointing and something we didn’t need as a tourism business already going through a tough time because the borders were closed.”
Anyone with information about the remaining vehicles is asked to call Counties Manukau Police on 105 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.