Wheels and tyres stripped from Ford ute in brazen Paradise Point boat ramp theft

Eyebrows have raised in a Gold Coast suburb after a parked ute was stripped of all four wheels and tyres while a boatie was out on the water.

EYEBROWS have raised in a Gold Coast suburb after a parked ute was stripped of all four wheels and tyres while a boatie was out on the water.

Photos of the stranded ute have been doing the rounds on city social media pages, prompting complaints from commenters about crime in the city’s north.

The ute with an empty boat trailer attached was snapped without the wheels and tyres in a car park near a Paradise Point boat ramp on Monday morning.

Police are investigating after a blue Ford XR6 ute was stripped of four tyres and wheels while parked at Paradise Point boat ramp. Picture: Facebook

MORE NEWS

Tallship Island Adventures, run by tourism identities Bruce and Margaret Nicholls, capsizes

Man dies after falling from dinghy near South Stradbroke Island on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast’s Sanctuary Cove Boating Festival fills gap left by cancellation of International Boat Show

It appears the blue Ford XR6 was raided by opportunistic thieves while its owner was away.

Facebook user ‘Wiz Gee’ queried “Is nothing safe?” in a caption alongside the photo.

A Gold Coast police spokesman confirmed officers had “received a report that a blue Ford ute parked overnight at a Paradise Point boat ramp had four tyres stolen”.

“The car was found this morning propped up on two additional tyres. The car is not reported as stolen,” he said.

The spokesman urged anyone with information to contact police.

Southport Fishing and Dive Centre’s Kerrie Ross said she had never heard of a vehicle being stripped in a similar fashion around boat ramps.

Boaties are often warned to lock up their vehicles to prevent break-ins and the theft of valuables, but she said the theft of wheels and tyres was quite unusual.

“They must have been ones (wheels and tyres) the thieves really wanted,” she said.

The theft of the wheels and tyres from the ute occurred in Paradise Point.

MORE NEWS

Top Gold Coast boat builders Riviera and Maritimo post strong sales for new models, defying COVID19 gloom

New photo shows how Marina Mirage plans to lure superyachts to region

Coronavirus: Gold Coast boat builder Bill Barry-Cotter saves 300 jobs at Maritimo in COVID-19 crisis

“Trailers are definitely stolen if they’re not secured properly, I haven’t heard of this though.”

The Bait Shop Gold Coast‘s Paul Anderson said he had a car stolen at a Cabbage Tree Point boat ramp a few years ago.

But he had not heard of wheels and tyres being stripped from vehicles and was surprised the theft happened in Paradise Point, a fairly sleepy suburb.

“Thefts do happen, but I just went ‘you’re kidding’ when I saw the photo. I couldn’t believe this happened at Paradise Point,” he said.

“You don’t hear of this sort of thing. Maybe thefts happens at other boat ramps, but not there.

“I actually had a guy ask me about parking up overnight and whether there was any boat ramps I could suggest – I said Paradise Point.”

Mr Anderson said trailers were occasionally targeted by thieves, but not wheels and tyres.

He encouraged boaties to insure their vehicles.

Gold Coast City Council, which operates CCTV cameras around the city, was contacted.

A spokesperson for the council said: “The City of Gold Coast Safety Camera Network has a number of cameras in the area.”

“Queensland Police Service are able to contact the City’s Safety Camera Network directly if they wish to request footage that may assist in their investigation.”