'Distraught' child forced from SUV in terrifying car theft at AKL supermarket

The most frightening car theft took place in Auckland this week, involving an innocent child, a fake gun and a knife.

At around 6:15 pm on Wednesday, May 20, police responded to a report that a man had allegedly stolen a parked SUV outside the front of Ponsonby Woolworths.

What makes this more terrifying is that a child was inside the car at the time and was seemingly forced out by the offender.

According to Senior Sergeant Dave Plunkett, “An unknown male approached the vehicle, yelling at the young boy to get out of the car, before he proceeded to get in and drive away.”

The offender was alleged to have taken off “at speed”.

According to a report from NZ Herald, a bystander described the shock as onlookers watched the interaction unfold. They said the boy looked “distraught” and ran towards the store, screaming.

“He was so distraught that my initial thought was that somebody had tried to snatch him,” the witness told the outlet.

“Fortunately, the young boy was physically unharmed, and the alarm was raised with a Road Policing officer who was nearby,” a statement from NZ police confirms.

Senior Sergeant Plunkett said the Eagle helicopter “located the vehicle abandoned on Commercial Road in Arch Hill a short time later”.

Around the same time, police received calls about a man jumping fences in the Arch Hill area.

CCTV footage later revealed the man walking on Karangahape Road. Units responded to apprehend him, and he was arrested.

Following his arrest, Plunkett says police “recovered a concealed knife as well as an imitation firearm”.

He was charged with unlawfully carrying an imitation firearm, possessing an offensive weapon, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and resisting police.