COVID-19 Charges in 112 Jucy cars heist
Police have recovered 50 vehicles and made 14 arrests — rentals boss ‘devastated’
Police have charged 14 people after recovering 50 of the 112 vehicles taken from Jucy Rentals in South Auckland. The stolen vehicles were Holden Captivas, Mazda 3s or Suzuki Swifts that were unbranded, making them not as easily identifiable as the company’s distinctive green and purple campervans. However, some vans were also reported missing.
Increased police patrols in the surrounding areas followed the weekend heist and, as of yesterday morning, police have recovered 50 vehicles from what they understood to be a total of 112 stolen.
Many of these stolen vehicles were found at various addresses, mostly in the South Auckland area including the suburbs of tara, Ma¯ngere and Papatoetoe. A few of these vehicles had also been recovered after they were spotted by police and the drivers pulled over.
Police had made 14 arrests by early yesterday, and nine of those are facing charges.
The majority of those are facing charges relating to unlawfully taking a motor vehicle or receiving property.
Three of those charged are also facing a number of driving-related charges after allegedly failing to stop for police. Three people are also facing charges for alleged breaches under the Health Act.
Those facing charges range in age from 21 to 52 years old. Three youths have also been caught and are being dealt with separately.
Police have also been notified of 18 additional vehicles that were interfered with at the same yard. They belong to another rental company. A handful of these vehicles have also been damaged, however none of that company’s vehicles have been reported stolen.
Police made further inquiries at the car yard yesterday including forensic testing.
Inquiries are also being made to obtain CCTV footage from the car yard as well as from nearby addresses.
Police are still working to establish the timing of the thefts, which are believed to have taken place over the weekend.
Inspector Matt Srhoj, Counties Manukau West Area Commander, said police were working hard to hold all of those responsible to account.
“We are determined to locate the remainder of these stolen vehicles and police are working hard to establish exactly what has occurred.”
Police are also aware that a few of the stolen vehicles have been advertised for sale online on places such as Facebook’s Marketplace at very low prices.
“We encourage the community to report any suspicious activity such as this online. If the deal appears too good to be true, it probably is.
“We also want to remind the public that it is an offence to knowingly receive stolen property.”
Jucy Rentals chief executive Tim Alpe said he was devastated by the theft, which could not have come at a worse time for the company.
“When tourism has been just decimated, to have to go through this as well is just horrific,” Alpe said.
The stolen vehicles would have been used by a range of Kiwis who were returning to work as the country moved to level 3.
Alpe believes the theft occurred on Anzac Day. He confirmed the cars would have been sitting unlocked in the Ma¯ngere yard.
“The keys won’t be in the ignition, the keys could be in the vehicles though. They are moved quite a bit between different yards.”
If they weren’t left unlocked would-be thieves would smash into the cars to gain entry, he said.
The information he had so far suggested the cars recovered had not suffered a lot of damage.