Prison for man who stole brand new car, driving it through dealer's window - Manawatu Standard
A Marton man has been sentenced to three years in prison for stealing a new Ford ute by driving it through a car dealership's window. David John William Cassidy, 29, was sentenced on six charges in the Palmerston North District Court on Tuesday, including the burglary of Courtesy Ford in Feilding. On July 9 Cassidy entered the dealership by breaking a window just after 4am. He crawled along the ground to avoid activating the alarm until he made it to a room where car keys were kept. He used an angle grinder to cut a lock and took 30 sets of keys to cars in the dealership. To make his getaway Cassidy got into a Ford Ranger, valued at $56,000, and started it with one of the stolen keys. Judge Tim Black said damage was also caused to the dealership. The company had also had to install new keys and locks for all of the vehicles for which Cassidy had stolen keys. The judge said this was not an amount Cassidy could pay so he ordered him to pay $1000. Defence lawyer Marina Anderson said Cassidy had been told how to get into the dealership and access the keys by an associate. Anderson said while Cassidy had a criminal history, including eight previous dishonesty convictions, this was the first time since becoming a father that he had been faced with the potential of going to jail. Source: www.stuff.co.nz
