‘Come on, you can’t do this: Car rip off leaves travellers stranded
A driving tour of the Far North has turned into a nightmare for a Victorian couple after their Jeep was stolen from under their noses, leaving the retirees stranded.
Cairns
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A caravanning tour of Far North Queensland has turned into a nightmare after travelling retirees had their Jeep was stolen and now have no way of towing their van or getting home to Port Fairy.
On Saturday Oriel and Peter Glennen with pet dog Zephyr were packing up camp at Port Douglas when a kid allegedly jumped behind the wheel of their 2012 model Jeep Grand Cherokee and tore off down the road.
The shocked couple said teens in another alleged stolen Toyota Corolla had staked out their campsite on Saint Crispins Avenue before one got out, ran toward the Jeep and took the vehicle loaded with possessions, including a $3000 guitar.
“The cops came straight away but they couldn’t give chase, they had cameras on the highway to check regos, within minutes they got their first click, then it went up the range to Mareeba,” he said.
“It’s a huge problem, I know it can’t be fixed but there is a huge problem when the cops can’t do anything, the law is losing on this one.”
The couple got their caravan towed to the Crystal Cascades Holiday Park in Redlynch where they have been desperately waiting for any updates on the location of their stolen vehicle.
“Every possession we own was in that Jeep,” Mr Glennen said.
Ms Glennen who is a singer songwriter, said the car has been spotted driving erratically around Mareeba and was alleged to be involved in a fuel drive-off at an Atherton service station, she said police had identified alleged offenders through CCTV but they appeared to have since gone to ground.
“We’re just hoping that someone might sight them or sight the car,” she said.
“We worked hard for our trip, like I said to the policeman in Port Douglas, if you catch them I would really love to sit in a room with these kids and say ‘Hey we worked our whole life for this trip, it’s like come on you can’t just do this’.
“We have got everything in that car, it’s got a really expensive guitar and it’s got all our clothes and tools and the key to the caravan.”
Last month there were 47 vehicles stolen in the Cairns area which was a slight reduction on the 48 cars stolen in June.
So far this year a total of 377 vehicles have been stolen which is shaping up to be an annual reduction of the 804 cars stolen in 2023.
In a last-ditch effort to get his vehicle back, retired commercial shark fisherman Mr Glennen has offered a $1000 reward for any information that could lead to the return of his Jeep bearing Victorian rego of ZQO 255.
Investigations are continuing into the stolen car and anyone with information is urged to contact police.
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Originally published as ‘Come on, you can’t do this: Car rip off leaves travellers stranded
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