A woman hitchhiker picked up by a Masterton man in Feilding not only seemed to have lost her bearings, but was later accused of helping herself to his cash.
Masterton police received a complaint on Wednesday from the driver who had driven the young woman to Masterton only to discover, after she had alighted from his car, that $30 in cash had gone with her.
Sergeant Bill van Woerkom said police found the woman in a Masterton food outlet where she was charging her cellphone.
She had agreed to being searched and to having her bag searched but no money was found.
The driver who thought he was being a good samaritan by giving the woman a lift was adamant he had taken out $50 from a money machine in Feilding and after spending some put the change, being $36 in notes and coins, in a consul between the two front seats.