Carjackers strike twice

BY GEMMA REDDELL

Police say two carjacking attempts on the Hibiscus Coast within minutes of each other are unrelated.

Red Beach resident Peter Braithwaite was left shaken after a man threatened him and took his car on Saturday.

It was only minutes before that another man was approached at McDonald's Orewa at about 8am by a young Maori man with a crowbar who asked for the car keys.

He ran off when the man refused, police say.

Mr Braithwaite was unloading his golf clubs for an early morning round at Peninsula Golf Club when he was approached by a man in a bandana.

"It was about 8.10 and I was getting my stuff out of the car when a ute drove in that looked a bit peculiar," he says.

"But people do that sometimes to have a look around, so I just put on my shoes and closed the boot and went to lock the front door."

He says a man walked from behind him right up to his face.

"He said if I didn't give him my keys he would stab me. I just gave them to him."

Mr Braithwaite walked to where other members were playing and got them to call 111.

"I heard there were two men and a woman but I didn't notice there were three of them - I just saw the one guy," he says.

He says the man took off in his car with others in a ute. The police say it was stolen from Paihia and had a stolen motorbike in the back.

Mr Braithwaite says they abandoned the car and ran through markets in Parnell. They were caught by the police with the help of some members of the public.

"The car wasn't munted but it was knocked about," he says. "They hit a roundabout at 120kmh, went down a one-way street and hit a curb.

"I got all of my valuables back. My wallet was found on the floor of the car. They had dumped the ute at Oteha Valley Rd and all three took off in my car on the motorway."

He says police were following them, because they had rung 111 before the people had even left the golf club.

"They are from Northland, but it's not a reflection of the people from Northland," says Mr Braithwaite.

"It's just that 0.1 percent of people in the community don't care - they just take."

He says the police and golf club members were very helpful.

"The Orewa police were great, really brilliant.

"It gave me a hell of a scare, he was right in my face," he says.

"There are things you think about in hindsight that you could've done, but I think I did the right
thing.

"He was vicious. I've never been confronted before but you don't expect that sort of thing to happen here."

Mr Braithwaite believes if it wasn't him then someone else would have been targeted.

"I know I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it's just not like New Zealand.

"I can still see the fella - it was really frightening. I'm more annoyed about why it happened."

- © Fairfax NZ News