Cafe owner’s stolen truck returned with sorry note, toys for son

A cafe owner was stunned when someone had the cheek to steal his truck from outside his Auckland eatery .

And he experienced more disbelief just four days later, admitting to feeling he was truly “going crazy” - when the truck showed up parked in the exact same spot.

The returned wagon also featured a letter of apology from the person who’d taken it; albeit one with the incorrect spelling of ‘sorry’.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Kati Street owner and operator Varun Chada said.

“The first time I thought I was losing my mind because I’d just walked inside and the second time I rocked up and it was parked there.”

It was around 2pm when Chada’s truck was stolen. He had finished for the day and left the keys inside to pop back into the shop to grab something.

As his neighbour’s security camera later revealed, the five-minute window proved enough time for an opportunist to strike.

When it was later returned, it came with an apology note where the culprit claimed they were drunk and needed a ride home.

“It was exactly where I’d parked it and I walked up to the window and there was a note inside it saying ‘hey mate sorry but I borrowed your car, was a bit drunk’ and none of us could believe it,” Chada laughed.

Varun Chada's van was parked exactly where he left it with an apology note. Photo / Supplied

Sorry had been spelt ‘sori’. The thief added they had left some new toys in the back of the truck for Chada’s young son.

“[There was] no damage to the car,” Chada said. “They took the tent off but they put the tent back on. They could have stolen the tent and some other stuff but it’s all in there.

“I’m not condoning what they did is fine, but I mean, they gave it back and they said sorry so, I don’t know, I’m just stoked to get it back, put it that way.”

Chada notified police with the good news that the truck had been returned that afternoon. It’s currently parked at his house as he said police are interested in doing forensic testing.

Varun Chada working at his Kati Street eatery. Photo / Ben Dickens

In a statement to Focus, a police spokesperson confirmed they were continuing the investigation.

“Despite the return of this stolen vehicle to its owner, police are continuing to investigate the theft, and are following positive lines of inquiry.“

Meanwhile, the story has since been the talk of the town after Chada posted the update on his Facebook and community pages.

“There was like hundreds of likes and stuff.

“Everyone kept an eye out and, yeah, it’s been like the topic for the whole week, lots of the customers shared it when it went missing as well and [had] been keeping an eye out for it.

“So I think that social media definitely helped me get it back as well.”