Thieves caught in act but bike still missing
CCTV footage has caught what appears to be two thieves wheeling away a $10,000 motorbike, stolen from a Taupo¯ mum visiting Hamilton just days before Christmas.
Angela Griffin had her beloved 2012 Aprilia V4 motorbike stolen from a busy Hamilton street on December 23.
It’s still missing nearly a week later, leaving its owner ‘‘heartbroken’’.
Griffin had parked the yellow motorbike on the corner of Victoria and MacDiarmid streets, where it was stolen.
The bike had broken down, and Griffin was at the NTB Racing shop getting parts for it.
Two-and-a-half hours later when Griffin returned at 3.30 pm, the bike had disappeared. Now CCTV footage reveals two thieves casually taking it down Victoria St, about 2.23pm.
A man in a white T-shirt and light trousers is on the motorbike on the footpath, with a woman in a black top and light jeans beside him.
They later appear to separate as the man continued to wheel the motorbike past Fairfield Bridge and continue up Edgecumbe St.
Waikato police senior constable
Warrick Pearson said the theft was purely ‘‘opportunistic’’.
It doesn’t appear planned, rather that people saw the bike parked there and pinched it, Pearson told Stuff.
It won’t be working properly as it is without some essential parts, he added.
‘‘If anyone knows anything about these two people or where this bike is can they let police know, so we can get it back to her.
‘‘She is just so upset.’’ Pearson said he hoped anyone with information would do the right thing by informing police.
‘‘People go out onto their motorbikes and it just makes them feel better.
‘‘It’s like a psychiatrist for some people.’’
Griffin told she was ‘‘heartbroken’’ when she realised the bike was stolen.
The mum of four had saved for years to buy the bright yellow Aprilia, her prized possession.
Griffin bought the motorbike in early December and had taken it out only twice to Lake Taupo¯ and the Coromandel.
The theft was a bitter end to a tough decade for Griffin.
Her partner died of a heart attack in
2011, her youngest son was diagnosed with cancer six years ago and had to undergo a liver transplant, and her
15-year-old daughter has epilepsy. Griffin herself suffers from the side effects of an old leg injury and now needs a cane to walk.
‘‘Recently my life hasn’t been normal,’’ she said.
Riding the yellow bike was the only place Griffin felt herself.
‘‘It’s like it’s given me freedom to clear my head, to have space to unwind and be normal.’’
She urged the thieves to hand back her bike.
‘‘I just want my bike back. I don’t care if it’s damaged, I just want it back.’’