Mareeba crime: Family car stolen on Tablelands with kid in back seat

Two men have been taken into custody after a Tableland family had their car stolen from a busy town street while a teenage girl was still buckled up in the back seat. See the video.

Two arrests have been made after a Tableland family had their car stolen from a busy town street while a teenage girl was still buckled up in the back seat.

The terrifying ordeal unfolded on Lloyd St outside the Mareeba Medical Clinic on Monday at 4.45pm.

Mr Ali, who asked for his full name to be withheld, said his wife was in the process of loading his five-year-old son into their Nissan Dualis after a medical appointment when she noticed a young man on a pushbike loitering in the area.

As she started the car and turned her back for a moment to pick up her son, the alleged thief made his move.

Two men have been charged after a Tablelands family had their car stolen from a busy town street while a teenage girl was still buckled up in the back seat. Picture: Queensland Police Service

“A guy ran up and jumped in the car and started reversing it and my daughter was still in the back,” he said.

Mr Ali said his 16-year-old daughter escaped the moving vehicle just before the thief sped off.

The Mareeba father said the ordeal had also taken a toll on his eldest child.

“It is shocking,” he said.

“And it was very hard for her, she became very worried and annoyed and we could not sleep all night thinking about the bad situation.

“Normally you think this might happen on a lonely road at night time but it happened in a busy street in front of the medical centre.”

The alleged car thief staked out the car on an alleged stolen bike and upgraded to a Nissan Dualis on Monday afternoon. Picture: Supplied

Police allege the stolen Nissan Dualis was later involved in multiple fuel drive-offs and other offences in Mareeba, Kuranda, Atherton, Craiglie and Cairns.

And at 4pm on Thursday detectives from the Tablelands Criminal Investigation Branch arrested two men in bushland at Kuranda after the vehicle was stopped with a stinger tyre deflation device.

The men were arrested at Kuranda on Thursday. Picture: Queensland Police Service

An 18-year-old Dimbulah man was charged with two counts each of stealing, breach of bail condition, enter dwelling with intent, and one count each of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, evasion, and driving without a licence. He was refused bail and was due to reappear in the Mareeba Magistrates Court on March 10.

An 18-year-old Mareeba man was charged with two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle. He is due to appear in the Mareeba Magistrates Court on March 10.

Also in Mareeba, several teens were accused of stealing a white Toyota Hilux stolen from an Amaroo house on February 14.

Police allege a group of four teenagers drove the vehicle dangerously around Mareeba before a dramatic chase through parkland near the Mareeba Leagues Club all captured by the police chopper.

The Cairns police helicopter was used to track a Hilux stolen from Mareeba before officers arrested the alleged thief who absconded from the vehicle into bushland. Picture: Queensland Police

Police vision shows the Hilux being dumped and a man running towards Granite Creek where he was cornered by police officers and taken into custody.

A 17-year-old Manoora boy, a 15-year-old Tully girl, a 16-year-old Mareeba boy and a 16-year-old Innisfail boy were all charged with various offences including unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

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Originally published as Mareeba crime: Family car stolen on Tablelands with kid in back seat