Boy stole car with screwdriver, police say

A 17-year-old from Mareeba has been arrested for allegedly carrying out a carjacking armed with a screwdriver on Sunday evening.

Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy after an alleged carjacking in Manoora on Sunday evening. Picture: QPS.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested over a frightening alleged armed carjacking in Manoora on Sunday evening.

At about 6.30pm on April 14 the boy used a screwdriver to threaten the 24-year-old driver of a Mazda CX-9, police say.

The car had stopped at the corner of Macilwraith Street and Griffiths Street, in a residential part of the suburb.

The crashed car was found by police officers a few hours later on Royes Street in the boy’s hometown of Mareeba, about 65km from the scene of the alleged carjacking.

The boy was quickly arrested by the responding officers.

The corner of Griffiths Street and Macilwraith Street in Manoora, where the alleged carjacking took place. Picture: Google Maps

On social media, Mareeba residents reported seeing the alleged offender being taken down by police after a short foot chase having attempted to flee from the scene of the crash.

Rumours which earlier circulated online that a gun was used to take the vehicle were inaccurate, a police spokesman confirmed.

The boy allegedly at the centre of the incident is co-operating with police but has not yet been charged with any offences, The Cairns Post understands.

Sunday’s alleged theft was the second dangerous incident of the weekend on Manoora’s roads, after two people were taken to hospital following a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Pease Street and Moody Street on Friday afternoon.

Originally published as Boy stole car with screwdriver, police say