"I heard a noise, eh? Like someone's in a hurry. I saw my car come out of the driveway doing the wheelies and that's when the police ran from knocking on the doors to their cars," David said.
Pauline exclaimed to a police officer at the scene "that's our f***ing car" as police scrambled to give chase.
What followed was a two-minute pursuit at speeds up to 90km/h in a residential zone, which ended with the Mitsubishi on its side against a fence.
While being arrested, Tawhai allegedly struggled over to a police patrol car and took the handbrake off, dragging a police officer 10m until the officer became wedged against a tree and the car came to a stop.
Tawhai admits taking the Mitsubishi but denies using it and the patrol car as a weapon against police.
He appeared in the Porirua District Court yesterday and has elected a judge-alone trial on the charges he denies. The alleged offending happened in May.
The Sutcliffes, who are in their mid 60s, said they knew when they saw the car pulling out of their mechanic's driveway and speeding down the road that that would be the end of it.
"I had that dread feeling," David said.
"You know, that's gone, that's the last we're going to see of it."
The car, valued at $4000, was written off in the crash. The Sutcliffes did not have insurance on it but were able to scrap it for $450.
"We do miss it," David said.
Despite the inconvenience of no longer have a four-wheel drive, they don't have any hard feelings.
"I think he just needs to grow up," said Pauline. "He's young, he's just a kid, you know."
"I believe he's just gone a bit astray," said David.
"He should come right, I reckon. We all do something stupid in our life, eh?"
