Inspecting the car they helped salvage from a Dunedin beach are (from left) Rhys McAlevey (24), Ossian Woods (18) and Blake Stanley (20). Photos by Stephen Jaquiery & supplied.
Inspecting the car they helped salvage from a Dunedin beach are (from left) Rhys McAlevey (24), Ossian Woods (18) and Blake Stanley (20). Photos by Stephen Jaquiery & supplied.
Recovering cars from a Dunedin beach wasn't a "money-making exercise'' and shouldn't have ended with a shouting match at a police station, the men involved in the salvage say.
Rhys McAlevey, of Dunedin, said he had no sympathy for Mahmoud Helal, Ali Ibrahim and Hassan Almulla, believed to be internationalstudents living in Dunedin, whose three cars got stuck on Tomahawk Beach about 9pm on Saturday.
"If they had rung someone when it first happened, they would have got out but they were trying to get out for the cheapest price possible.''
Mahmoud Helal, Ali Ibrahim and Hassan Almulla with one of their 3 cars stuck in sand on Tomahawk beach. Photo / Otago Daily Times
At 10am on Sunday, at low tide, Mr McAlevey said he offered to salvage the two cars stuck furthest up the beach, a Nissan Maxima and Toyota Corolla.
The Maxima could have been salvaged but it was locked, the handbrake was on, and the keys were missing, so it remained on the beach, as the incoming tide approached.
An attempt to winch the Toyota Camry - the car closest to the surf - was unsuccessful because it was buried deep in sand and would not budge, Mr McAlevey said.
He said he agreed to return to the beach at 6pm on Sunday, after high tide, for a second salvage attempt.
Blake Stanley, of Dunedin, said when he arrived at the beach about 4pm, another man had "blown both of his front hubs out'' attempting to salvage a car.
Mr Stanley towed out the broken car with his Toyota Hilux.
When Mr McAlevey returned for the second salvage attempt, he and Mr Stanley agreed a fee of $200 per vehicle used during the salvage.
Mr McAlevey said he and Mr Stanley, and a man with a Land Cruiser, who did not want to be named, worked for about two hours to recover the two cars.
Mr Stanley broke towing straps in the process.
When the salvage was complete the situation turned ugly, Mr McAlevey said.
The students told the salvage crew to follow them home for payment.
"They led us straight to the police station,'' Mr McAlevey said.
At the station, Mr McAlevey said the students became aggressive and an argument ensued until a student took $200 from a wad of cash, gave it to Mr McAlevey and Mr Stanley and swore at them.
"If they said: 'We'll buy you a couple of boxes of beers each and a feed', that would have been that, but the annoying thing is they had no intention of paying and lied about it,'' Mr McAlevey said.
The three damaged cars were left in the beach car park overnight and were vandalised.
Yesterday, the Nissan and Corolla had been removed but the Camry remained in the beach car park.
Dunedin City Council parking enforcement team leader Daphne Griffen said the council was trying to contact the Camry owner to remove the car.
To salvage one car from Tomahawk Beach would have cost the students between $200 and $350.
To salvage the three would have cost between $450 and $600.
Automobile Association spokesman Liam Baldwin said if an AA member got a vehicle stuck in the sand, the AA would not recover the vehicle but would connect the member with a tow truck contractor.
"Any recovery would be at the car owner's cost.''
The AA had not received calls from Mr Helal, Mr Ibrahim or Mr Almulla at the weekend.
Southern police spokesman Nic Barkley said police were called on Sunday and were told to expect a group of men at Dunedin Central station about 7pm.
