Thieves' jaunt ends with damaged vehicles

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 320, 23 January 1990, Page 1

Thieves' jaunt ends with damaged vehicles

Four youths stole two trucks last week, smashing lights and windows of one and causing extensive damage to the other after rolling it down a bank Last Wednesday night an International Eagle truck worth $150,000 was stolen from F.R.Taylor Holdings Limited in Ohakune and driven north to the Rotorua area where, police later found, the thieves stopped for fuel. The keys to the truck had been stolen from a nearby engineering firm shed. At about 6am on Thursday morning the driver of the truck lost control on a wet road in a forest on a road between Murupara and Wairoa. The truck left the road and rolled down a bank and was extensively damaged. Salvagers took nearly four hours to shift the truck back onto the road. None of the group, which included an 18 year old male, two 15 year old males and a 14 year old female, were injured. The group were later apprehended in Kawerau. Betore taking the truck in Ohakune the group had stolen a seven tonne truck in Wanganui and driven it to the Makatote Gorge near National Park, where police found it with an empty fuel tank and its lights and windows smashed.