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A business owner who traveled 7 km along a highway in the back of his car after it was stolen says he worked hard to earn it and was unwilling to let someone take it.
Manawa, who only has a legal name, was at his Pukerua Bay tattoo studio, Manawa Moko Limited, on December 17 when he heard the launch of his ute.
“I thought, ah, that sounds like my car! So I kept going and watched him back up and I don’t know what beat me … I ran down.
“At first I thought it would open the door, but then I thought it would be locked, so I jumped out the back and then proceeded to hit the ceiling.
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Pukerua Bay’s Manawa does not recommend his own actions, after he climbed into the back of his ute to try to stop a thief from stealing it.
Manawa said he begged the man, who seemed surprised, not to steal his ute.
“I was like ‘oh, are you trying to steal my car?’ And he was like ‘get down, get down!’ “
Manawa said he was “not thinking too clearly” but held his ground as the suspected thief sped north on State Highway 1.
The driver then entered and exited the traffic, while Manawa tried to signal the cars to cut off.
Traveling on SH1, Manawa pleaded with the driver to stop, telling him that if he left the car, he would not call the police.
“I told him again ‘if you go, make a better choice, then I will not press charges or call the police.’
Manawa sensed that the man was speeding up, but admits that he wasn’t sure how fast he was going as he had never ridden in the back of the ute before.
Fighting the wind, he ducked and called the police.
Manawa demonstrates how she held onto the ute as she was driven from her tattoo studio in Pukerua Bay to Paekakariki.
“I was like ‘oh you know, my cars were stolen, I’m in the back of the car.’ They were like ‘Where are you?’ I guess everyone was struggling to understand what was really going on, ”he said.
The alleged thief drove the ute to Paekākāriki, about 7 km north of Pukerua Bay, when Manawa said that he began to feel scared and asked him to let him go.
“To his credit it slowed down and I was able to jump. I think he was a nice guy, we could have had an accident or he could have died. I don’t think he was a bad guy, he just maybe made some bad decisions, “he said.
To make matters worse, Manawa’s phone died, meaning he was unable to reach the police who had dispatched units to the area.
He walked into a nearby delicatessen and asked to use his phone.
“I was shaking at the time and I said ‘oh, do you mind if I use your phone? My cars just got stolen and I tried to stop the guy, and he was in the back of the car. ‘ They said ‘ah, do you want a coffee? You’re good?’
“That was when I started to doubt my own sanity at the time,” he said.
Manawa arranged for the police to take him home, who were able to locate his ute. She met with him the next day.
“I come from a working family, I have had to work for everything I have and I have also had some good mentors in my life … I hope the young man also finds a mentor and makes good choices for him from now on.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into the back of the ute,” he said.
When telling people about the incident, Manawa said that “everyone laughs a little.”
“So they say ‘oh, you could have died,’ then they say, ‘that sounds like a brother from a movie!'”
