Mum turns detective to find stolen toy car for sale on Facebook

A mother had to buy back her daughter's ride-on car after it was stolen then posted for sale on Facebook.

A mother took matters into her own hands after her daughter's electric ride-on car was stolen then posted for sale on Facebook just hours later.

Christchurch resident Alysha Kinnaird became frustrated after reporting the burglary to police and being told it may take a few days for action to be taken.

Kinnaird's garage was broken into and her 2-year-old daughter's toy electric car worth $450, a $300 fitness machine and a $500 trampoline still in its box were stolen on July 27.

The stolen toy car.

"I rang the police. They just took some notes down and said if I find out any more information to let them know," Kinnaird said.

"So I posted on the buy/sell pages for people to look out for anyone selling the items. Then about an hour later, I got flooded with all these messages of screen-shots of this person selling the ride-on.

"It looked pretty dodgy because they were selling it for $70, I brought it for $450. He was saying they sell for $200."

The seller lived just around the corner. Kinnaird pretended to be an interested buyer and then asked her ex-partner to go around and buy the ride-on car.

"I knew it was mine because when they stole it they forgot to take the charger and the key and he didn't have the charger or the key and my remote had the back off it, and it had the back off and had the batteries I had bought for it.

"I rung the cops back and explained it was mine and that I can prove it was mine. They said no one was available, it could take a few days and that to call them back if I had any more information.

"So I said, well, they are literally just around the road and all my other stuff will be sold by then."

A 21-year-old man has since been charged with burglary and is due to appear in court later this month.

- Star.kiwi