CAR thieves involved in a high-speed police chase through the North East and Riverina on Wednesday travelled more than 1500 kilometres in two days after stealing the four-wheel-drive, it was revealed yesterday.
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Queensland police said the gold Nissan X-Trail was stolen from a property in the inner Brisbane suburb of Paddington between 11pm Sunday and 5.30am Monday.
Officers said the car, which has Queensland registration plates 555RCX and is owned by a 74-year-old man, was stolen during an aggravated break and enter.
It appears that after the theft, the car didn’t come to police attention again until 10.50am on Wednesday.
A motorist reported the vehicle speeding on the Hume Highway at Benalla, leading to a chase covering at least 500 kilometres over six hours, reaching up to 200km/h.
As of last night, police were still searching for the vehicle, which was last spotted in central-west NSW near Canowindra by a member of the public on Wednesday.
The vehicle has travelled at least 2000 kilometres and police have been forced to call off several pursuits.
The car has also stopped several times for fuel.
Officers believe the car was being driven by a man with another man and woman in the vehicle as passengers.
The woman was captured on security cameras at the Kangaroo General Store at Ebden near Lake Hume on Wednesday.
The car was filled with $91 of fuel, which was not paid for.
Items thrown from the vehicle have been collected as evidence.
Wagga Local Area Commander Superintendent Bob Noble said police had tried to avoid making the situation more dangerous.
“They’ve got to balance out the benefit of pursuing the vehicle (against) the potential catastrophic cost of an accident should it occur,” Supt Noble said.
“To be driving in an unlawful and dangerous way for that period of time, it’s a wonder that car didn’t leave the road or collide with another vehicle.”
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