Stolen car used by kidnappers burned out in West Auckland

The burned-out Toyota used by kidnappers to escape. Picture / Dean Purcell

The getaway car used by two balaclava-clad kidnappers after they abducted a Bond and Bond employee has been found burned out in West Auckland.

The assistant manager was abducted from the roadside on Saturday night after finishing a day's work at the Lincoln Rd appliance store.

Detective Sergeant Sean Hyland-Mills said the assistant manager was driven around in his own car, with his eyes covered.

After a short time he was taken back to the Bond and Bond store and forced to open a safe which was kept in a back office. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken from the safe along with several laptops and cellphones.

Mr Hyland-Mills said an employee from a neighbouring liquor store tried to stop the kidnappers from escaping by parking a forklift in the middle of the road.

But the kidnappers, who left the manager at the store and fled in a stolen Toyota, managed to get past the forklift.

The metallic red Toyota was found by firefighters yesterday morning burned out in Vineyard Rd, Henderson Valley.

The assistant manager is understood to be uninjured but shaken. Mr Hyland-Mills said the manager had been told by Bond and Bond not to talk to media about his kidnapping. A firearm used in the abduction has been recovered.

West Auckland police are following several lines of inquiry but would like to hear from anyone who saw the Toyota being driven away or dumped in Henderson Valley.