Tri-city joyride ends in arrest
They called themselves Lucy and Clive and wanted to test drive a $90,000 Holden from a Tauranga car yard.
But, in a Bonnie and Clyde move, they stole the powerful 2016 Clubsport from the hands of a salesperson before joyriding through three provinces, reaching speeds of 200kmh.
In the end, it was the power of social media and the determination of the dealership’s principal that led to the fugitive driver’s undoing in a South Auckland suburb.
‘‘It was the power of Facebook, a chance sighting by a staff member and they just didn’t bank on the fact I was going to go looking for them,’’ Ebbett Holden Tauranga dealer principal Julian Clements said.
The electric blue Holden on sale at the dealership’s Cameron Road branch was stolen on Friday evening while on an accompanied test drive.
Clements would not go into details about how the vehicle was taken – to prevent any copycat crime – except to say the salesperson on the test drive was uninjured when the pair drove off in the car from the Countdown car park in Bethlehem around 5.45pm.
‘‘We have policies in place to protect against these things happening, but hindsight wisdom is always a great thing.’’
Ebbett Holden Tauranga put up a post on its Facebook page appealing for any information about the late-model supercharged V8 Holden special vehicle ‘‘stolen by a lady using the name of Lucy Hayden with a husband by the name of Clive’’, the post read.
The post was viewed by more than 100,000 people and shared thousands of times, Clements said.
‘‘That Facebook post was instrumental in getting the car back.’’
And so was Clements. Deciding he wasn’t going to wait for police to track down the car, Clements drove to the Waikato in search of the car.
‘‘I wasn’t just going to sit on my butt while they took the car, and police are so short-staffed, property theft is not a priority.
‘‘They didn’t bank on me going to look for them.’’
Strong leads generated through the Facebook post led Clements to Kihikihi, where by chance the car sped past.
‘‘We were on the side of the road and the car went past with another plate on it – they had changed the plates since lunchtime.’’
Police attempted to stop the car, but given the driver was going at more than 200kmh, Waikato police Senior Sergeant Phil Ruddell said there was too great a risk to the public to engage in any pursuit.
The car was subsequently sighted at The Base in Hamilton before being spotted by police in the Franklin district.
Ruddell said Counties Manukau police tracked the vehicle to Great South Road in Papakura, where a 32-year-old woman, wanted on previous charges, was found in the vehicle. She was taken into custody.
‘‘It’s come to light in the last 24 hours that these individuals have done this a number of times in the last month or so and are wanted in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty region,’’ Clements said.
The woman was due to appear in court in Auckland today, facing a raft of charges.
‘‘It feels good,’’ Clements said upon hearing of the arrest.
‘‘Although I would have liked to have met them. I’m glad it’s over.’’
The $90,000 vehicle appeared to be undamaged, he said, and was being kept in Auckland before being brought back to Tauranga later this week.
‘‘The car is a very, very powerful car. You can’t hurt that car on the road.’’