Thief returns stolen Subaru after chase

The Subaru Impreza stolen from a Northeast Valley address and returned after a high-speed police...
The Subaru Impreza stolen from a Northeast Valley address and returned after a high-speed police pursuit. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
It appears car thieves in Dunedin can be thoughtful.

A 1993 Subaru Impreza was stolen from a Northeast Valley address yesterday and was chased several times across the city by police at speeds of more than 120kmh before the pursuit was called off in the interests of public safety.

Rather than crash the car, strip it for parts or set it alight, the driver returned it to its rightful owner several hours later.

The vehicle's owner, who declined to be named, said he had been out of town over Easter, and was downloading photos from his trip when police knocked at his door yesterday morning.

He was shocked to learn his car had been stolen, as the vehicle was parked on the street outside his house where he left it.

"If they hadn't come to my door, I wouldn't have even known my car had been taken."

In hindsight, he now believed the car had been taken previously.

He said the car had not been ransacked and the only indication it had been taken was the full fuel tank was now half empty and the car was parked on a slightly different angle to the way he left it.

The front tyres were also worn as a result of the car being used to do "burnouts", he said.

Although the car is No 7 on the AA Insurance's top-10 list of cars most sought after by car thieves, Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken, of Dunedin, said it was rare for a car to be stolen, taken on a joy ride, and then returned to its owner.

"I personally know of only two or three cases where that's happened over the past five years.

"It usually happens when someone finds they have a key which works in the ignition of another car, or the locks are so worn that anything will turn in them.

"You could use a 5c piece on some locks."

He believed once the offender became aware of the easy locks, he took the car for his own purposes and then returned it so he could use it again and again.

Snr Sgt Aitken said the car was being examined in a bid to identify the offender.

The owner said he was pleased the car had been returned.

"It was bought by my [late] father, so it has sentimental value.

"He reckoned we could get 400,000km out of it. I don't know if it will make 400,000km after the treatment it got last night though."

He was now looking into an immobilising device for the vehicle.

"I've always had faith ... but reality might be catching up with me in terms of parking my car on the street."

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

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