Pair's plea to parade thieves

By SCOTT KARA

A stolen Subaru, an attempted bank robbery and a 70-year-old photo album sounds more like a gangster movie plot than a couple's holiday in Auckland.

But since Mike and Toni-Ann Tana's car was stolen while they were at Saturday's America's Cup parade, that has been their life.

The pair, who live in England, had to cut short their six-week family visit to New Zealand because of the theft.

All their belongings were in the car as well as a precious family photo album dating back to the 1930s.

Mr Tana said that since the Subaru Legacy disappeared it had been found, stolen again - after being reported to the police - and then found again at what was possibly the scene of an attempted bank raid in Glen Innes.

The pair's backpacks are still missing, but it is the album they want back dearly.

It is full of black-and-white photos belonging to Toni-Ann's grandmother, who cherishes it for the memories it holds.

"It has got her husband and her marriage in it. It is not going to mean anything to anyone else. For the first three days I cried every time I talked about it, but now I have run out of tears," Mrs Tana said. "Our plea to them is to drop it somewhere where it can be found," said Mr Tana.

The car was released to the family yesterday after fingerprints were taken and the wheels realigned.

It was first reported to police by a member of the public in Panmure around 6 pm on Monday but the police did not attend.

At around 10 pm police called Bill Tana, Mr Tana's father and owner of the car, to say he could collect it from where it was reported found. But he arrived to find it had been stolen again.

The car was spotted again on Tuesday outside a bank in Glen Innes. Glen Innes police could not be contacted last night but Mr Tana said they told him the car looked like it was going to be used in a bank robbery.

As for the car being restolen, Sergeant John McKinnon, supervisor of police northern communications centre, did not know enough about the incident to comment.

But he said that police attempt to get to a stolen car within 30 minutes of its being reported. However, if they cannot attend the job, it is referred back to a computer operator. The owner is then telephoned about picking up the car.

"We aim to get it back as soon as possible," said Sergeant McKinnon.

But Mr and Mrs Tana remain optimistic. They are borrowing clothes from friends and have not bought new ones in the hope they will get their belongings back.