A FRIEND IN NEED - APB

Homepaddock has had her laptop nicked.

Read the story here . The Christchurch police know who did it. They just cant find him. His name is :
Daniel Morgan. aka Daniel Barr and Daniel Erickson.

Anyway the Christchurch police are obviously much more diligent than the Masterton police.

Interestingly the Masterton police, nearly a year later have asked us if we want to charge the thief...

Crusher Collins has a ways to go to sort out the coppers in the wine province.

So we hope HomePaddock gets some justice quicker than we did.

CRIME AND COMPASSION

Today we got our car back. The story started on the 25^th of February when our car was allegedly stolen by a man with Mongrel mob connections called Customline Ford, from the Masterton Railway Station. He is the son of one of Wairarapa’s own, Little Man Ford. The name is not their original name. It was changed by deed poll to reflect the family’s love of Ford cars. Little Man is dead.

We had been leaving the car at the station from Monday to Friday, as we thought that a 18 year old faded green Ford Station wagon might not have had much attraction to any would be car thief. When we discovered the car was stolen we asked for some assistance from the train drivers. They were very helpful. They gave us the number of the local police and the number of the person in Wellington who administered the security cameras.

We rang the police , gave them all the details and they said they would post out an event number. They said that they could not email the event number that it could only be posted.

We dealt with Constable A. In the meantime the Aussie Rock, (my partner) got hold of the security guy and the next day we got our first break. The security footage clearly showed the thief. However he said he could not release it until he was asked to by the police. We rang the police back and told them that the security footage. Constable A said she would sort it out and get the footage. A week went by and we heard nothing . We rang again. We were told Constable A was not there and were put on to Constable B she picked up the file and then a couple of days later informed us they recognised the thief. She alledged his name was Customline and they were looking for him. He was very well known to them.

Anyway a couple of days later we got a notice from Land Transport that the car had changed ownership. The Rock checked with LTNZ and discovered that the car had indeed been reregistered a day after it was stolen. They would not tell us who it was, unless we went into the office and again said that they would release that information to the police. We rang the police and told them of the new development and they rang back to say that the car had been reregistered to someone at a Lower Hutt address who was also well known to them. They then informed us that the file was on its way to Lower Hutt - it took a couple of days to be transferred to the Lower Hutt CIB.

We were informed that the police were already keeping an eye on the property as it was in the Farmers Cres area, which was a MOB enclave and some of the residents had been issued with eviction notices from the Housing corporation. We were told that once they spotted the car they would have to get some reinforcements to take the car back because it was not something that one of two police could do on their own considering the tensions around the evictions.

Another week passed. We called into the Masterton Police Station and talked to Constable B where she reiterated that as yet they had not sighted the car. I asked her how likely it was that we would sse the car again. She did not rate our chances highly , explaining that normally when cars like ours were stolen they ended up in a Chop Shop within a few days or they were moved around all round the country. I suggested that I knew someone with strong Mob connections and that I was sure he could track the car down. She said that could be worth considering.

That night The Rock arrived home with two things - the name of the person the car was registered to – Barry Kahui and a newspaper story about Kahui who was on home invasion charges. And was appearing Thursday 2^nd April.

I rang my mate. Within hours he had talked to Barry who reckoned that the car had been sold to him as a repo and he had spent $1300 on it. He wanted some compensation for the money he had spent on the Mag wheels and a few other things. We resisted.

Our friend genuinely believed that this guy had been told some bullshit by the Customline. It was akin to your cousin ripping you off.

Anyway he gave the cellphone number of Barry and we texted him.

Then over the next two days there was an extraordinary dialogue as we came to an agreement about the car. As soon as he realised that the car was hot and we could prove it was hot and the police knew, Barry wanted shot of it. He had bought it to transport his 6 kids. He had put Mag wheels on it. And put speakers in it.

I was ready to call it quits. Years of dealing with gang members means that I know how difficult and dangerous it can be getting to a point of resolution. However the Rock is a stubborn bugger and wanted to follow through – so he talked to Barry direct. Soon they came to an understanding. The car was in a car park in Farmers crescent with the wheels off. We could pick it up. But the deal was that once we put wheels back on it could be driven away.

So yesterday the Rock and a mate went to Farmers crescent. The car was now missing a new battery. they went and got new rims and tyres and put them on, only to find the fuel line had been cut. So it was towed to a garage and its being repaired. Now while they spent an hour getting the car sorted , the Rock got to know the Mob, who were in full regalia. Some came up and yarned. They wanted to know what he owned. They were trying to work out why he wanted his old banger back. It was simple, the car has family history and has been around for a long time. He was pretty annoyed that the deal that the car be in drivable condition, was not kept. But Barry had put the car in the car park on the Wednesday night so who knows who stole the battery.

The Rock says he saw a mother and a father who cared for there children , who looked after them with affection and concern as they played on the asphalt. While I reminded him that all he saw was a snapshot – he said he knew that, but he also knew good parenting when he saw it. He talked to some Mobsters who were bemused that this quiet man would go to such lengths to get an old car with no wheels back.He quietly informed them that he had come to get the car because it was his.

A copper arrived minutes after the Rock had towed the car away. They rang me to say that Barry had told them we had collected the car. Her sounded surprised that we had repossessed it.He informed me they were there to get it back.

Bit late I said, not without a trace of sarcasm.

I also asked the copper, if it was true, as Barry had said, that the police had seen him drive the car during the past three weeks and had done nothing , the copper said to his knowledge that was not the case.

So whats the upshot?

Well, Customline is likely to be in for a bit of grief. The Lower Hutt Mob made it very clear that they felt they had been ripped off.

The police while helpful at all times have very crap processes. If someone deals with a file it seems no-one else knows what the details are.

And someone needs to do something about the interface between the police and LTNZ. We do feel let down by the police process but not by the police.

Anyway we will be requesting the entire file from the police to see what decisions were made and when. We aren’t out to get any individuals because they have treated us with respect the whole way through.

But we are following through because, you see, this didn’t pass the granny test. That’s the test you apply that means if you were a granny what would happen. If it was a granny instead of the Aussie Rock, she would have never seen her car again. And the mongrel mob would have learned that crime does pay and has no consequences.

And that does not do our society any favours.

So what happens now? Well we have the car back and its going to a new home and in a cul de sac in Lower Hutt, life goes on.

ROLL OUT THE TUMBRIL - PART IV

We have found our car. It was stolen on February 26th.
Now it has no tires and no battery - but there is a hell of a story about how it was stolen and how the police handled the issue. How it has highlighted an issue about how government departments talk to each other, or don't, to reduce crime.

Now the car is about 17 years old but mechanically sound. It wasn't worth much more than about $1000 dollars - it wasn't even worth insuring. So some maybe wondering why we have gone to great lengths to secure its return.

Well it was ours. And its like this - We like to apply the granny test to things. That means if it was your granny that was facing the same incident how would the experience have been for her.

In this case Granny would have never seen her car again. And that says bad things about how this issue was handled. In the end it proved to be a case of " not what you know but who you know" and a little bit of amateur sleuthing.

We will blog on this in full later. It really has been an astonishing journey.

STILL NO CAR

And no word from the police. They know the address where the car is registered and have the suspect on security footoage. We are getting a tad impatient.

We have a plan B.

ROLL OUT THE TUMBRIL PART III

We have had some dramas with our car being stolen from the Masterton Railway Station. You can read the saga here

The police know who took it and now they are executing search warrants.

Hopefully they will find our car. However the address has been in the news a bit. We will keep you posted.

ROLL OUT THE TUMBRIL- UPDATE

On the 6th of March we blogged on the fact our car was stolen after it was left at the Masterton Train station - under the security cameras. We contacted the people with the security footage and the Masteton police. The security guy got the thieves on tape. However he needed us to get the police to ring him. We gave all the details to the Masterton Police who said they would chase it up. A week passed and nothing had happened - we talked to another constable who said they would look into it. Still nothing. Then yesterday the Aussie Rock got a letter from Land Transport saying there had been a change of ownership. He thought that the police must have notified Land Transport that the car was stolen. I thought it was a bit odd - anyway the Rock rang Land Transport and low and behold the car was re registered the day after it was stolen.... They wont say where - they want to talk to the police and will release the details to them. Farrrrkin protracted process we reckon....
So when we find out who the little buggers are we will be borrowing this canon and these gunslingers from Oswald Bastable to deal to the bastards who stole our car!

ROLL OUT THE TUMBRIL

We were hanging out to get to the Wairarapa this weekend. We didn't get our country fix last weekend so we were toe tapping waiting for the Train today.

Now we leave the 15 year old metallic green Falcon station wagon at the Masterton train station car park right under the security cameras between weekend visits. Now you would think that with security cameras at many vantage points it would be pretty safe.
It wasn't - it, along with a couple of other cars, was broken into about 4 weeks ago. The thieves broke the back rear passenger window - and the guys at the Train station in Masterton kindly duct taped it shut when they found it.

Anyway, I skip off the train about 3pm today and look around - alas no Falcon - yip some nasty little spotty shit(s) stole it this time - duct tape and all. ( mark my words car thieves are always spotty little shits).

The Train boys were very helpful, giving me the name of the guy who runs the security cameras and the number for the local police station.
The culprits stole it on February 25th - they were on the tape. It seems no one looks at the tapes unless someone asks. Anyway we had to co-ordinate the security bloke and the police. Sort of self help crime fighting. Will be interesting what happens next. We will report.

Now the car is old but one that is held in great affection. It smells a bit but has been very very well looked after. (Our bloke - the Aussie Rock is like that) - its sort of a sea sick green colour and if you are in the Wairarapa you wont miss it because its the one with duct tape on the back seat passenger window.
and the rego is OZ 623. We ended up getting a taxi driver to take us to the block today and he says that Masterton is pretty unsavoury sometimes and there is a bad element in the town. That's bloody sad and I suspect its no different than many towns these days.

Masterton is full this weekend for - the Masterton Golden Shears competition.

The last weekend we were here the National Pipe Band Champs were on.

So its all go in Masterton.

There will be a reward either cash or Bluff oysters if its found in going order.

Anyway, we can report that the mushrooms are plentiful and the bloody zucchini have grown so big that if you scooped them out you could paddle them down the river.