30 cars taken or tampered with in Dunedin youths’ TikTok crime spree

TikTok videos the youths were making could be useful in an investigation, police said. Photo / 123rf

Dunedin youths stealing cars in a four-day spree broadcast their exploits on social media site TikTok, police say.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police this morning caught two youths after they crashed and then fled from a stolen car near Mosgiel about 4am.

There was at least one more youth police believed to be involved in the spate of stolen vehicles, Bond said.

Videos the youths were making could be useful in an investigation, he said.

“They are filming themselves for posting on social media,” Bond said. “Police are asking parents that if they become aware of those videos, can they please contact us on 105 and save a copy and share it with us so that that can assist us in our investigation.”

Police were happy for the videos to be shared with police anonymously through Crime Stoppers, as well, he said.

Since Friday at least 30 Mazda Demios, Toyota Aquas and Nissan Tiidas had been either stolen or tampered with — and police believed all the offending was related.

Overnight at least four cars were stolen from Corstorphine, Waitati, Waikouaiti, and North East Valley.

Another six cars, police knew of, had been interfered with as attempts were made to steal them.

In those cases lights would have come on, dogs would have barked, and people would have woken to the sound of their cars being broken into.

In some cases the youths had been unable to start the cars, he said.

Bond also said not all victims would know their cars were stolen overnight yet either.

“Obviously people are still waking up this morning and will be looking out going ‘Where’s my car?’”

Last night’s spree started about 10pm was stopped early this morning, after a vehicle stolen from Silverstream Valley Rd crashed into a bank at Puddle Alley about 4am.

The youths ran off, but a police dog handler responded and a male and female youth were located.

They were returned home and their parents spoken to, Bond said.

The pair were not licensed to drive but appeared to be stealing, criss-crossing the city and abandoning cars for the “thrill” of it.

“They are just cruising around, looking for other cars, just driving.”

The youths were often reaching high speeds.

At one stage overnight, about 12.30am, a stolen car was spotted being driven at speed in the one-way system at Harbour Terrace.

The car failed to stop, and police did not pursue, but now CCTV was being reviewed.

At this stage some cars had been returned to their owners.

There were three awaiting a forensic investigation at present, he said.