Video: Teens in alleged daylight robs as theft climb to 5.5 daily
Two girls are back on the street hours after smashing an alleged stolen car through the front window of a Manunda property, as this month’s theft rate hits more than five vehicles a day. See the video here.
Cairns
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TWO teen girls are back on the street hours after police used stingers to stop an allegedly stolen car that careened through the front window of a Manunda property as this month’s theft rate hits 5.5 vehicles a day.
Police allege the Toyota Fortuner was stolen from a Redlynch home earlier that day.
The car’s owner, who asked not to be named, was shocked her home had been targeted during the day between 12.15 and 12.30pm.
“I only had my car out the front after cleaning it. I went out the back to have a chat … then went to find my handbag and it wasn’t in my room,” she said.
“And I noticed my jewellery box was gone and I think instantly we have been burgled then I noticed my car was gone.
“It’s so wrong.”
Patrolling police spotted the vehicle in Manunda and a tyre deflation device was used.
In a video of the incident four occupants can be seen running from the vehicle before the car collided with the front of a house in Cominos Place about 8.30pm.
No occupant of the home was injured and police arrested two of the four at a nearby street.
A 15-year-old Mooroobool girl and a 16-year-old Gordonvale girl were each charged with unlawful use of a motor vehicle and will appear in the Cairns Children’s Court later this month.
Police said the girls were bailed with “strict conditions”.
While the alleged offenders are back on the street the vehicle’s owner was left to pick up the financial and emotional cost.
“I am angry, I’m livid and want to kill them,” she said.
“I want to feel safe but they have come into my bedroom. I hear these stories where they take the keys and sell them to some other idiot and come back later.
“We had to go and get security cams, it cost us a fortune and we had to change the locks, they are just not accountable, it sh*ts us.
“And that car was my pride and joy, it cost me $60,000 and I had it set up for four-wheel-driving and it had the drawers and a UHF, but they just don’t care.”
In the first four days of September police figures reveal 22 cars have been stolen in the Cairns area.
A running 2022 stolen car tally on Monday hit 884 vehicles.
Senior Constable Martin Shephard was “thankful no one was injured” in the Cominos Place incident.
“All we can ask is if people take care and keep their distance and ring police with information as soon as possible,” he said.
The escalation in theft rates follows more police being sent from Brisbane to help Cairns cops who are “working at capacity.”
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Originally published as Video: Teens in alleged daylight robs as theft climb to 5.5 daily
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