‘Despicable act’: Car owner fury as vehicle crime wave sweeps city

Data reveals shocking number of vehicles stolen between Gordonvale and the northern beaches since the beginning of May. FIND OUT HOW MANY

UPDATE 9am: Since the beginning of May police stolen car data has revealed a vehicle is stolen (on average) every 3.1 hours between Gordonvale and the northern beaches.

An astonishing 23 cars have been ripped off in the past three days to bring the 2022 total to 485 vehicles.

In April the stolen car tally reached 121 which was a reduction on the 162 vehicles taken in March.

A total of 23 cars have been ripped off in the past three days to bring the 2022 total to 485 vehicles. This pair was caught on CCTV casing a Brinsmead home at the weekend.

EARLIER: A long weekend crime wave has sent vehicle theft rates through the roof and Cairns police into overdrive after a Mulgrave Rd car rental business was broken into on Sunday.

During a 24-hour period at the weekend, vehicle thefts have occurred at a rate (on average) of one rip-off every 1.6 hours.

Police have been flat out following up reports of abandoned cars dumped by thieves and organising the towing of vehicles, including many that have been vandalised and damaged.

Officers are reporting a major backlog of homes and vehicles that require the attention of forensic investigation teams.

A white Toyota HiLux hire car found abandoned in Mooroobool on Sunday with the vehicle's tyres slashed.

According to police, between 6am Saturday April 30 and 6am Sunday May 1, there were 15 vehicles stolen in the Greater Cairns Area.

Four are yet to be recovered.

Six of those vehicles were stolen from Network Car & Truck Rentals in Westcourt.

Business owner John Pizzolato said thieves hit the car yard twice between 1am and 5am.

“They smashed a glass door and smashed a big hole and crawled inside, searched around and the after-hours key return was there and they worked out which cars they could open and smashed out through the fence,” he said.

“(Most) of them, they have got back and they are all at Barron River Towing so we won’t get them back for a while and we have to turn customers away.

A red Honda found dumped outside the Double Tree Hotel on Florence St in the Cairns CBD recently.

“My workers have had to go in after-hours, it’s not fair. There should be more punishment.

“We have to have tougher penalties or they are going to keep doing it.

“How are we going to stop it?”

Inspector Sonia Smith said five of the six vehicles stolen from the business had been recovered.

“Police including officers from Tactical Crime Squad and Property Crime squad were deployed to the premises on Mulgrave Rd,” she said.

“Ongoing investigations led to the arrest of a 12-year-old Westcourt boy who was

charged with six counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and one count each of enter premises and commit indictable offence and driving unlicensed.

Former Child Safety executive Jo Borg speaking at a Victims of Crime Demand Change rally outside Michael Healy's office on Saturday April 2.

Dumped cars have popped up across the city, including a Toyota HiLux rental abandoned with the radio blaring, the key snapped off in the ignition and slashed tyres in Mooroobool.

Shannon Bain’s stolen car added to the police workload at the weekend.

His 2021 Toyota Fortuna was found in Edmonton after being stolen from White Rock early Saturday morning.

He said furious thieves had violated his family home while his wife and children were sleeping.

“They used vice grips and they crushed the door handle and all the mechanism. They got in and grabbed the car key off the kitchen bench and off they went,” he said.

“(My wife) is even more paranoid about the safety of the house and she has not been able to sleep properly.

“It was anger from the start, the car can be replaced but it’s the fact my family home and my family was in danger.

“They have done a despicable act, it’s the fact that they have broken into my home when it was completely locked and now my family doesn’t feel safe.”

Mr Bain said the car was not damaged but replacing bank cards, driver’s licenses and waiting for the car to be returned was a major hassle.

Cars damaged in Cardwell earlier this year by an alleged stolen ute. Picture: Nick Dametto

Cairns has now eclipsed Townsville as the stolen car capital of regional Queensland.

Sam Testa runs a Facebook group that logs stolen cars ripped off in Cairns and Townsville.

He said the page was set up due to the number of stolen cars travelling between the two cities and to help motorists get their cars back.

“One thing which was always for certain was Townsville had an incredibly high rate of car theft (which was apparent for the last eight years) but the past three months in Cairns has shown a tremendous increase in car theft,” he said.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to also get information on these cars to keep the public informed, but thankfully Cairns Police have now been issuing a stolen car list twice weekly to help the public.”

According to police data during April, Townsville recorded 75 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences while in the same period the Cairns rate skyrocketed to 131 offences.

Up until April 29, 118 vehicles were reported stolen from Gordonvale to the northern beaches which was a reduction on the 162 stolen in March and brought the total thefts this year (not including the weekend total) to 459.

Police urged the public to report any suspicious behaviour via Policelink online or by phoning 131444. Residents now have access to the world-leading Axon Citizen System that allows the public to easily and securely provide digital evidence.

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Originally published as ‘Despicable act’: Car owner fury as vehicle crime wave sweeps city