Boy prangs stolen ute, loses dog

The stolen Mazda Bravo, pictured at a Rockhampton holding yard, crashed into a parked car on Quarry Street on Tuesday night.

MEGAN LEWIS

WHEN a man saw his ute being stolen in Rockhampton on Tuesday night, he desperately grabbed onto it and was dragged before falling to the bitumen.

The 48-year-old owner was the first of two injured victims as a 16-year-old boy “dangerously” drove the vehicle with the owner’s two pet maltese-cross dogs in the back seat.

Witnesses to the 11pm theft from a carpark at Ross Street and Gladstone Road chased the ute and tried to stop it in Ann Street, but it hit a 20-year-old man and continued on.

The boy’s run came to an end in Quarry Street when he crashed into the back of a parked vehicle.

The two dogs ran away after the crash and while one has been returned to the owner, a long-haired, white maltese female, which answers to Phoebie, had not been found yesterday.

Four witnesses detained the boy until police arrived.

A Ross Street resident, who asked not to be named, said she heard a man yelling and then cars racing off.

“I heard someone screaming at the top of their lungs, ‘Hey, hey, hey!’ and then two cars screeching up the road,” she said.

“The first one screeched up the street, and then a much more powerful, like a V8 or something, followed not long afterwards.”

A boy was charged yesterday with stealing the vehicle and dangerous driving and will face Rockhampton Children’s Court today.

The 48-year-old owner’s attempts to stop the car saw him end up in hospital with chest and leg injuries.

He was released yesterday morning.

The other man who was struck by the ute sustained a minor arm injury.

The driver himself received facial injuries in the crash and was taken to hospital for treatment.