A teacher is calling on parents to take more responsibility for their children after his car was stolen and written off by a youth at the weekend.
Josh Ratcliff said his Mazda Demio was stolen from outside his Mosgiel house on Saturday night, and he was livid his trusty transport had been "driven to death".
"The entire back end — the tyres and rims — it’s been destroyed.
"It looks like they’ve used it to do skids until they’ve destroyed the car.
"My insurance company reckons it will probably be a write-off."
Mr Ratcliff said he bought the car second-hand about three years ago because it was cheap, reliable and economical.
He used it to travel from his home in Mosgiel to his job teaching in Oamaru each day.
"It’s served me pretty well, up until this point."
The theft meant he was unable to go to work yesterday and he would have to borrow a friend’s car to get to work today.
"This has put my livelihood and my finances in jeopardy.
"My excess is high and my insurance premiums will go through the roof as a result.
"It’s put me out of pocket and it’s also affected my ability to work.
"If it wasn’t for friends, I wouldn’t have transport to get anywhere."
He had a lot of faith in young people and it was hard to watch someone go off the rails like this person.
"Parents need to hold their kids accountable for their actions because they obviously don’t understand or have any remorse for what they’re doing."
Yesterday, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said Mazda Demios and Toyota Aquas appeared to be the most stolen models in Dunedin at the moment, and he urged owners to invest in steering wheel locks to make them more secure.
Two of the vehicles stolen over the weekend were spotted by police on patrol, but the drivers fled and were pursued by police, he said.
One pursuit happened at 1am on Sunday in Opoho Rd, when the driver was seen travelling about 70kmh in a 50kmh speed zone.
Another was pursued by police about 11.45pm on Saturday, after it was seen leaving the Brighton Pistol Club.
"Both vehicles were stolen. Both pursuits had to be abandoned."
Only one of the cars had been found — near Outram.
Snr Sgt Bond believed youths were responsible for the offences and police were making inquiries to locate suspects.
The type of vehicles being stolen were popular around the city and he urged owners to take precautions.
"Don’t leave valuables in your vehicle which makes it attractive to possible thieves.
"A few of the vehicles were Mazda Demios or Toyota Aquas, so again, I would ask owners of these car models to invest in a steering wheel lock which will make them harder to steal."
Mr Ratcliff said instead of buying another Demio, he would be looking for something with better security.
