Social media helps find stolen Napier jet ski

CCTV footage shows the man driving off with the jet ski which had been parked in Brad Lugt's driveway. Photo/Supplied

Thanks to the power of social media. a jet ski stolen from a Napier driveway was handed in to police yesterday.

Brad Lugt was hanging out with his friend in the shed when he realised the jet ski was no longer parked in the driveway.

"I hadn't noticed it until my old man asked if I had moved it so I went and checked and it was nowhere to be seen."

The house has a security camera at the front, which showed a man scoping the house that morning at 11:30am before returning in the same car at 12pm and towing the jet ski away.

"He must have boosted with the jet ski when he drove away as he dented up the side of the shed."

Mr Lugt took to Facebook to post photos of the CCTV footage in hope someone might recognise the man or the car and give him a lead. Within minutes his post took off and was shared across a variety of different pages.

"When I put the post up I didn't really think anything of it but then I got a message on Wednesday morning saying they think they have my jet ski."

The jet ski had been sold on and, luckily for Mr Lugt, the people who bought it handed it straight into police.

"It just goes to show you that there are some good people out there and I am so grateful to get it back."

Mr Lugt works in a boat shop and he had saved up to buy the jet ski as part of a project he is working on.

"It is really important and I just hope in the short time they have had it they haven't damaged it in any way."

Mr Lugt expects to get his jet ski back today after police took fingerprints and investigated the theft.

"It seems like they know what they are doing so hopefully they are caught before they do the same thing to someone else."