Police are urging people to lock their doors while parked at gas stations.
A woman waiting in a car while her husband paid for petrol at a central Whangarei service station had to fight off a man who got in the driver's seat and tried to drive away.
The attempted carjacking, at BP Wylies, on Maunu Rd, about 2pm on Monday, has left
the 32-year-old shaken and questioning her positive impression of Whangarei. She also issued a warning for people to lock their cars at petrol stations even if there was someone in it - a warning echoed by police.
The woman and her husband did not call the police as they thought staff at the service station were going to contact them and hand over security camera footage.
The gravity of the incident was still sinking in yesterday as the woman, who did not want to be identified, recounted the events. The couple had been on their way to Auckland and had stopped to fill up with petrol.
"I was in the car and playing with my phone as my husband went in to pay for the fuel," she said.
