Stolen truck rolls 2000km home

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A truck stolen from a Martinborough company made it all the way to the Chatham Islands before being seized by police.

The Hino powerline truck and crane was stolen from Poltech Power Works on Jellicoe St in March, putting thousands of dollars of contracts, and the livelihoods of employees, at risk.

Poltech's insurance company hired a private investigator who worked with the Poltech administrator to track the truck down.

Co-owner Darryl (Radar) Rothery said a Facebook page was set up and it was not long before information was received that the truck had been spotted heading towards Napier, and then again at the Napier wharves.

The investigator established that it was likely the truck would be shipped to the Chatham Islands, and island police were alerted.

A constable heard through word of mouth that a farmer/fisherman had received the truck and a search warrant was executed to recover it.

The truck's berth on the ship from Napier, booked under a false number plate, had been booked before the truck was stolen, Mr Rothery said.

The 2003 Hino truck, registration BUD634, finally returned to Martinborough on Friday, having endured a 2000km round trip, and staff were thrilled to have it back.

"The team are beside themselves," he said.

"We definitely had affection for that truck - we always called him 'Buddy' - we are greatly relieved to have Buddy back."

The loss of the truck had meant the company had had to go "cap in hand" to the bank in order to keep the business running, he said.

"It did kill us in terms of work," Mr Rothery said.

"We've taken a hit of $100,000, easy, in terms of lost income ... it could have unstuck the business - it could have failed.

"Now we are pretty much back in business and going full-steam ahead."

Chatham Island Constable Tom McBride said it was likely the truck had been taken to unload crayfish pots.

This kind of incident was not common in the Chathams, he said.

"It's pretty obvious when someone brings over a $100,000 truck. It's a small island - it's too small to hide anything."