A QUEANBEYAN resident is appealing to the local community for help in catching a careless driver who left her car "ripped apart...as though it was a sardine can" over the weekend.
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The resident, who only wanted to be known was 'Lara', woke up on Sunday morning, March 15 to find her 2000 Ford Falcon seriously damaged.
Another vehicle had sideswiped the car while it was parked overnight on Campbell St. Lara said she and other neighbours believed the incident occurred at about 11.45pm when they remember hearing a loud bang.
"A couple of the neighbours said it was a huge sound and one went out to investigate because they thought something had taken out their trailer," she said.
"They looked up and down the street but couldn't see anything. They hadn’t noticed my car."
Broken glass and parts of the door structure and side mirror were found along the road the very next morning.
However, without the identity of the offending driver, Lara said the police can not press any charges.
"The police say it was probably smashed into with a car/four wheel drive with a bull-bar to cause so much damage. There are scrapings of blue paint as well all along the side," she said.
Lara cares for her mother and uses the car to take her to the doctor and specialist appointments. She said she doesn't have the money to replace the car.
She is currently using a rental vehicle and will have to pay a tow truck to move the Ford Falcon as the car is in no condition to be driven.
"As you can imagine I was extremely shocked to come out to the car and see it in this state - with no message or contact to whom caused the damage," she said.
"When I saw the car, I just thought it was unbelievable. My mouth was open and hands shaking."
The incident comes just days after a local man's car was stolen and torched on Friday, March 13.
Ryan McInerney, 23, woke up to the sound of the police knocking on his door at 6am. They told him his 1988 Commodore VN was found burnt out just a few kilometres from his house.
Mr McInerney said his car was parked in a well-lit area just metres from his window but that was not enough to deter thieves.
"It was parked just on Brooke St...outside of my unit. I could still see the car from the unit. It was probably 40 or 50 metres from my house," he said.
"They must've stolen it and taken it past the Captain's Flat turn off and set it alight. There's not much left of it.
"I was up until 3 o'clock up watching TV so I don't know if they stole it while I was still awake but I'm annoyed more than anything. It's inconvenient, I don't have a car or any money to buy a car at the moment."
Mr McInerney believes his car, worth about $1000, was targeted because it was an older model. It had been broken into once before, about eight months ago.
"At the time I spoke to other people in the apartment and they've never had any problems so I don't know if they thought my car was older and would be easier to break into," he said.
"My car was secured and it had an alarm that was meant to stop it from being stolen but obviously it hasn't worked."
Mr McInerney said he hoped to make others aware of what was going on and warn them to be careful.
He said he didn’t believe his was an isolated incident as he saw two or three other burnt out cars in the same location where his Commodore was found.
Anyone with any information related to these incidents should contact Queanbeyan Police on 6298 0555.
