Joshua Bennett-Bardwell, 21, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier admitting a representative charge of possessing a weapon.
The court heard the defendant and his brother had been restoring a Ford ute before it was stolen near the end of last year.
His family and associates made many posts to social media searching for the vehicle and threatening the people who took it.
On December 30, Bennett-Bardwell got wind of information suggesting the stolen vehicle was at an address in Milton.
About 1pm that day, the defendant and five carloads of associates arrived at the address demanding to see the ute and the thieves.
Shortly after this, a carload of locals drove past the group and the defendant and his posse chased them, believing they were somehow involved.
Bennett-Bardwell and two other cars trapped the carload of people in Union St, bringing traffic to a standstill.
The defendant got out of a car holding a trolley-jack handle and struck the car with it multiple times before the group managed to get away.
Another chase ensued and the defendant again got out of the car with the jack handle.
There was a fight, during which Bennett-Bardwell put the weapon down.
Police diffused the situation a short time later.
The defendant told police he "just wanted to get his stolen ute back and said he wouldn’t stop until he does".
Yesterday, counsel Andy Belcher said his client had gone on "something of a rampage".
"He recognises now the seriousness of his offending," he said.
The lawyer explained Bennett-Bardwell had spent about $18,000 restoring the vehicle and it was stolen before he got a real chance to drive it.
Judge Emma Smith said the defendant had offended in a "determined fashion" and caused "maximum mayhem".
"You know you shouldn’t have, in essence, acted like a bunch of vigilantes," she said.
The judge acknowledged the defendant’s youth and lack of prior convictions and thought the court process had “shocked” him.
Judge Smith sentenced Bennett-Bardwell to 175 hours’ community work, ordered him to pay court costs of $143 and ordered the weapon be destroyed.
After the theft, a woman, who the Otago Daily Times agreed not to name, took aim at the police inquiries, claiming they had done "literally nothing" to find the thieves.
"I know that people have been ringing 111 and they’ve been ringing 105 with sightings and police have done literally nothing, nothing at all," she said at the time.
"What are the police going to do, wait till [the thief has] hit someone and hurt someone and killed them, or what?"
