'Life turned upside down': 16-year-old employee has $10k bike stolen on test ride

A man stealing a $10,000 bike from outside a Havelock North takeaway eyeballs Lochlin Turner, right. Photo / Supplied

The life of a 16-year-old Hawke's Bay bike shop employee has been "turned upside down" after a $10,000 electric mountain bike was stolen as he took it for a test drive.

Lochlin Turner has been searching Havelock North high and low for two months for evidence to pinpoint the thief, and is frustrated police have yet to arrest anyone.

The incident on Saturday, May 5, the day the Mongrel Mob took over the top of Te Mata Peak, occurred when Lochlin went from the Revolution Bikes store where he works to buy lunch at Kilim Turkish Takeaways on Napier Rd.

While he was inside, the bike, which was leaning against the store's window, and not locked up, was taken.

The incident, which shows Lochlin sitting on the couch before getting up perplexed as a man rides off, was captured on store CCTV.

A Norco Sight VLT2 bike, valued at $10,000 was stolen outside Kilim Turkish Takeaways on May 5, 2019. Photo / Supplied

The bike - a Norco Sight VLT2 - was used as a demonstration model to sell other stock to customers.

Lochlin said he shouted out and tried to get help as things "happened very fast".

He said he didn't chase after the offender, because the man had a face tattoo, and was wearing red and black.

"I immediately thought he was with the Mob, and I didn't know what he was going to do," Lochlin said.

"I can't stop thinking about it. It's been taking over my life, trying to do as much as I can to get the bike back.

"I'm still feeling horrible about it even though I pretty much know the bike's gone by now.

"I've given the police all this evidence and they haven't done anything with it."

Lochlin, who is still at school, works at the store each Wednesday, as part of a Gateway programme, as well as Saturday and Sunday.

He has done so for nearly three years.

Lochlin said he plans to work harder in an attempt to make up the theft to his boss.

Shop owner Hilton Taylor said he was "irritated" the bike was stolen because Lochlin hadn't asked to take it out for lunch.

The bike was not covered under personal insurance, because it was owned by the shop and because it was not on the premises, it was not covered.

"He's not going to have to pay it off but I am determined to sort of get my money out of him by working him," Taylor said, with his tongue in his cheek.

"I still pay him, he's just not getting a pay rise for the next couple of years probably."

Taylor said he wasn't surprised his employee hadn't chased after the thief.

"He looked at the guy and went, 'what are you doing' and the guy just walked off and took the bike from him.

"Lochy didn't chase after him and scream or yell or anything because he was scared of the guy which I can understand."

Taylor said his employee has "found out more information than anyone else has tried".

"It's annoying because it was a daylight robbery - it was a pretty simple one to sort out. The cops came pretty quickly. The Mongrel Mob were in town the same day, so they were pretty busy.

"I know the cops are busy and they have other things to do, but they don't get that it's $10,000 out of a business. We struggle, we don't make much money, and that will take me three years to pay off that bike probably out of margins."

Lochlin said he'd reached the point in his investigation where he felt he "can't really do anything else but go public about it".

He believes he has found who is responsible, but in emails exchanged with police, they told him what he has does not meet their evidential standards to proceed in court.

A police spokesman told Hawke's Bay Today no arrests had been made but police were following "positive lines of inquiry".

He declined to elaborate.