Park car thieves caught

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 610, 31 October 1995, Page 2

Park car thieves caught

Information from the public helped Police catch two car thieves recently. The thieves had targeted road-end car parks in Tongariro National Park as

well as popular fishing access car parks in the T urangi area. Cars had been stolen or broken into at both Mangatepopo and Ketetahi road-end car parks and at the Red Hut car park. Both the Police and Department of Conservation staff are delighted with the help received from the public and hope it is an indication that people are prepared to come forward with information when a suspicious activity is noted. "The Police and DoC do rely on information from the public, and we hope more people will help us when they see something untoward happening." said Lee Busby , operations manager at DoC' s Turangi office. "But also people need to be aware of the risk and use common sense if they do leave their vehicle and contact the local police as soon as nossible."

The risk of leaving vehicles at road-end car parks is well kno wn locally and staff from the Department of Conservation, Turangi and National Park Police, Information Centres and volunteer groups met recently to discuss and implement ways of solving the problem. DoC Tongariro/Taupo has prepared an information sheet on vehicle safety at road-ends. To ensure as many people as possible are made aware of the risk to vehicles, the information is included with all. hut tickets, hunting permits and fishing licences. Simple safety precautions such as always locking the vehicle and not leaving or displaying valuables left behind are obvious security measures, but alternative transport to road-ends and safe storage of vehicles is also recommended.