Employee who helped carry out $140,000 jet ski heist admits torching truck

Andre Tibor Kalmancsi, 33, will be sentenced in June for stealing jet skis from the Napier freight company he worked for. Photo / File

A man who showed up for work after stealing a truck loaded with jet skis in Napier has also pleaded guilty to a charge of arson.

Andre Tibor Kalmancsi, 33, and his accomplice Glengyle James Greenhorn, 40, stole $140,000 worth of stored goods, including five new jet skis, from freight company Combined Logistics in Ahuriri on January 16.

The pair gained entry into the office of the warehouse and took a set of keys for a Mitsubishi truck which was used to carry freight.

Conveniently, the vehicle was the only one in the fleet to not have GPS installed. They loaded the jet skis onto the back, as well as stealing five boxes worth $17,766 of vape juice and left the property.

A day later the pair took the truck out to Raukawa. They soaked a T-shirt in diesel from the tank, spread it around the cabin, and then set the $20,000 truck ablaze.

Kalmancsi earlier pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, theft of a vehicle and methamphetamine supply but had not entered a plea to the arson charge until today. Senior Constable Pehi Potaka said police had yet to locate the jet skis but were actively searching for them.

Kalmancsi appeared via audio visual link before Judge Bridget Mackintosh today in the Napier District Court and will be sentenced in June.