Racial slur carved into Holden Commodore taken by driver using unmarked tow truck
A prized car that was taken by a driver using an unmarked tow truck and found dumped in bushland south of Brisbane was defaced with a racial slur adding insult to injury.
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Adding insult to injury, a prized car that was taken by an unmarked tow truck and found dumped in bushland south of Brisbane was defaced with a racial slur.
A man driving an unmarked tow truck stole a Holden Commodore in broad daylight from the car park at Grand Plaza Shopping Centre, Browns Plains between 12pm and 1.40pm on Tuesday, September 3.
Vision of the incident shows a Holden Commodore attached to the rear of an unmarked tow truck and being driven away from the scene.
In the process of making their getaway, the offenders knocked off a bumper bar from the vehicle.
The vision of the incident was uploaded to social media, sparking a frantic search effort for the Holden Commodore Redline owned by Mako Shanks.
Three days later, the car was later found dumped in bushland in Park Ridge under a tarpaulin by a group of children walking home from school on Friday, September 6.
Ms Shanks was reunited with her car at a repair and maintenance business at Crestmead on Tuesday, September 10.
When reunited with her car, it was looking worse for wear with a missing front bumper guard, missing number plates, a smashed driver’s side window, a ripped-out passenger tail light, and what appeared to be a derogatory word carved into the back of the boot.
While relieved to see her car again Ms Shanks said it was a shock to see the condition it was in.
“Just seeing the car was a shock, but it was a good feeling that we got it back,” she said.
“They’ll have a proper look to see what the damage is really, but they can’t say it’s going to be repaired or if it’s a write off.”
Ms Shanks said the racial slur carved into the boot showed everything she needed to know about the perpetrator.
“I saw there was a signature in the back of the boot,” she said.
“They’re f—ing assholes, that was the first thing that came into my head.
“It just shows their true colours, shows what kind of people they are.”
Ms Shank’s son Dennis Taunoa said he was disgusted to find the racial slur carved into the car.
“It is very offensive, my mum picked it up straight away when she was looking at the car,” he said.
“Underneath the spoiler they wrote the n-word.
“I think they’ve seen mum on the TV, so they obviously knew she was brown.
“It’s just disgusting - the nerve, the cheek really.”
Mr Taunoa said he hopes the man responsible sees justice.
“I hope the man gets caught really,” he said.
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