Scott Johnson and his fiancée Brooke are happy to have their car back, but say it will take some time to make up the hundreds of dollars to repair after thieves badly damaged it.
By Kath Gannaway
THE mother of a young couple whose stolen car was dumped in Mount Evelyn earlier this month has pleaded with car thieves to “have a heart”.
Naomi Johnson was devastated when her son and his fiancée had their car stolen from the front of their rented property in Warburton on 15 July.
The blue VM Commodore was later found, damaged and not driveable, on the corner of Birmingham and Channel roads.
Mrs Johnson attacked the thieves in an open letter to the Mail in frustration at seeing the young couple so distressed and disadvantaged by the incident.
“Did you even stop to wonder about those it belonged to, or how hard both she and my son saved to buy and get the car on the road,” Mrs Johnson wrote.
Scott, nearly 18, and his partner Brooke, 20, were looking forward to their engagement party and to getting ahead as a family, which includes Brooke’s two-year-old child.
Mrs Johnson said her son, an apprentice motorbike mechanic, and Brooke were strugglers who were working hard to get ahead and were devastated at the prospect of having to pay out hundreds of dollars they can’t afford.
Brooke’s car, which was uninsured, was stolen from the front of their Warburton Highway unit between 6.40am and 7.30am. When it was later recovered at Mount Evelyn, it had mechanical damages and had to be towed, at a further expense.
The little one’s car seat, CDs, the car radio and other items in the car were gone.
“The thing that upset me most is the baby seat,” Scott told the Mail. “Why would you take something like that?”
Brooke said her initial reaction was simply disbelief, when she went to the window and discovered it was gone, less than an hour after Scott had left for work.
With Scott just weeks away from getting his licence, the car was not only going to be their only means of transport, but also used by Brooke to drive her brothers and sisters around as her mother was not well.
Mrs Johnson holds little hope that the items stolen from the car will be returned, but feels that others may just think twice about stealing a car if they could see the impact it has on their victims.
“Have a heart, and return what isn’t yours,” she wrote in an open letter to the thieves.
It is believed the thieves may have stopped to refuel between Warburton and Mount Evelyn and that security footage may give a clue to the identity of the thieves.
Just two days after this theft, thieves stole a car and trailer from Hillview Street in Yarra Junction after unsuccessfully attempting to steal a truck from the same street. Daniel Beaven, a member of a family race team, phoned the Mail in the hope of warning others.
He said thieves got away with just a pair of sunglasses, but he was shocked at the prospect of losing the truck.
“Our truck is vital to our race team,” he said. “If they had got it, it would not only be the truck, it would be our whole race team’s efforts,” he said reinforcing the impact such a loss could have.
Anyone with information on either theft can phone Mooroolbark police on 9725 9999 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
