Social justice campaigner Richie Hardcore carjacked in Mt Roskill: Audi stolen by axe-wielding man

Richie Hardcore, a social justice advocate and personal trainer, described to the Herald the moment an axe-wielding man took his car on Jasper Rd, near Dominion Rd on Monday. Photo / Brett Phibbs

A high-profile anti-violence campaigner was carjacked by an axe-wielding man in Auckland’s Mt Roskill this afternoon after an attempt to reason with the apparently drug-frenzied offender.

Richie Hardcore, a social justice advocate and personal trainer, described to the Herald the moment the man took his car on Jasper Rd, near Dominion Rd.

“I’m like, ‘f***, that dude just took my Audi . . . I just got grand theft auto-ed’,” Hardcore said.

Police confirmed there was a report of someone threatening a person with a weapon and stealing a car about 3.30pm on Monday.

Police said the car hadn’t been found and they were investigating.

Hardcore was sitting in his parked car when the man, who he said appeared under the influence of drugs, got in the passenger side holding a tomahawk.

“And I’m like, ‘yo, what the f***’, then he says, ‘get out of your car’.”

Hardcore got out, followed by the man who then got into the driver’s side.

Hardcore considered fighting the man: “But then I’m like, ‘he’s got a hatchet - that’s a bad idea’.

“It’s not worth fighting this dude. I have children. I had this back-and-forth conversation with [him]: ‘I’ll tell you what bro, I really want my car.”

Hardcore tried to reason with the man, offering him money in return for keeping his car.

“I said, ‘I’ll get you $1000,’ and he’s like, ‘I think you can get $1200.’

“There’s a whole bunch of other back-and-forth and he’s saying some weird s***, but that’s the guts of it.”

Hardcore was in disbelief when the man sped away in his car, but remained stoic and understanding toward the offender.

“It’s just a car, you know? You have to control your emotions, and the further away from it that I get - you know, I work with people from prison every week, and if I think about the broader trajectory that they’ve [the offender] had, I’m pretty sure this guy’s had not had the easiest [life] to lead him to robbing me with an axe in the middle of the day.”

Hardcore managed to recover his laptop, which had material on it for his postgraduate study, but said he didn’t think to take the keys from the ignition when he got out.

Hardcore said he found police helpful with his situation.

“They’ve been so cool and they get such a hard time. They’re really just doing the best they can with what they have. They’re running the plates and looking out for [the car].

“You have to keep things in perspective. I have some compassion for him as much as I’d like my car back.”

Hardcore hoped the man would get support to stop this sort of offending in future.

“If we really want people to not rob [people] with axes in the middle of the day, we really need to support them. It doesn’t excuse what he’s done, but if he just goes to prison without any sort of wrap-around support, chances are he’s not going to get a better act.”