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Police have charged two teenagers over a spate of vehicle thefts in Dunedin.
Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said police arrested two 15-year-olds in Brockville about 9pm on Thursday.
The pair were wanted in relation to a string of vehicle thefts on Wednesday night, he said.
Sgt Lee said they were each charged with two counts of unlawfully takes motor vehicle, relating to four vehicles total.
One teen was charged with unlawfully gets into motor vehicle and both faced historic shoplifting charges.
The teens were held in police custody and expected to appear in the Dunedin Youth Court on Friday.
City hit by wave of thefts
All week, Dunedin residents have walked out of their houses to find their cars gone and the finger of blame is once again being pointed at unruly youths.
One of the stolen vehicles went on to be involved in an alleged hit-and-run, before being dumped and stolen again later in the day.
The Otago Daily Times has spoken to multiple victims of car theft and attempted car theft this week, and many say they did not believe the perpetrators would be held to account.
Local social media is awash with people appealing to the public for sightings of stolen vehicles and, on the flip-side, youths posting videos of themselves stealing cars and meddling with ignitions.
Warren Bennett said when he went outside at 9.30am on Wednesday his Subaru Forester was gone.
“[I] went to see the police. They told me there’s probably not a lot they can do about it because they reckon they wouldn’t find it or it’s probably wrecked if they do find it.”
He believed the perpetrators were youths.
“Back in the day if people that age got caught doing something, they got charged,’’ he said.
“[The government] could fix this problem by bringing back bloody boys’ homes — they do it because they know they can get away with it.”
He speculated it was only a matter of time before vigilante justice reared its head.
“I said to the police the other day ‘Well, what happens if I catch these guys?’ and they said to me, ‘If you lay a hand on them, you get done for assault’.
“I said, ‘Hang on, I’m the victim here.’ ”
Seth Sinclair’s car was taken in the middle of the day on Wednesday.
He said it was locked and parked on the street in the Caversham area when it was stolen.
The alleged thieves were caught on CCTV joyriding and doing burnouts on a suburban street before abandoning it at First Church.
“When they parked it, they crashed it through the parking bollard at the church.”
Police were called and the incident was under investigation.
On Thursday, Mr Sinclair’s brother — who lives across town — called to say his car had been stolen overnight.
“It’s been a pretty interesting little 24 hours for us, to say the least.”
His brother’s vehicle was later used in a hit-and-run, before being dumped and stolen again later in the day.
Simon Henderson was stopped at the intersection of Cumberland St North and Howe St in his car when the stolen vehicle struck him.
He heard the crash before he saw it.
“I thought, ‘What’s that noise?’ It was someone obviously with locked-up brakes on a wet, tarsealed road … and I heard it coming.
“Next minute, bang — straight into the back of my car.”
The vehicle then reversed, did a 180-degree spin and drove off at about 100kmh, weaving through traffic.
Mr Henderson found a police officer a little further down the road and told them he had just been the victim of a hit-and-run.
“The young policeman looked at me and said, ‘I’m too busy for that. I’m on another job’ — I thought, ‘Oh, bugger you’.”
At Dunedin Central Police Station, he was told he would need to fill in a form online.
“I thought, ‘Ah, what’s the point?’ Where’s the justice?”
After the way he was treated, he had not bothered reporting the incident, he said.
Senior Sergeant Iain Notman said there were about two dozen car thefts in the past four weeks in Dunedin that police were investigating.
“While police are unable to confirm if any of the recent incidents involved youth, in general police need to hold young people to account for their offending,” he said.
He said they could do that through restorative justice processes, or through the Youth Court.
Snr Sgt Notman urged people not to take “matters into their own hands”.
He instead asked people to take some additional steps to help keep their vehicles safe, such as by parking vehicles off the road and in carports or locked garages, if possible.
Steering wheel locks were also a helpful way to deter thieves, and it was a good idea to leave as little in your car overnight as possible.
“We’re working hard to find these offenders, but we need the community to help us.”
If anyone had any information or noticed suspicious behaviour, they should contact 105.
laine.priestley@odt.co.nz