And it’s all thanks to social media…
When Cameron Smith left his workplace in Melbourne, Australia at 5:30 pm on June 21, he was shocked to find someone had stolen his rare Ferrari 400 GT. Usually stories like this don’t end well, with the car only being recovered in pieces from a chop shop, being crashed gloriously by joyriding thieves, or it disappearing forever. However, this time things were different and Smith has social media to thank for his good fortune.
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Like any wise man, Smith realized he likely would never see his beloved Ferrari again. Still, the man needed to file a police report and contact his insurance provider, which he did before returning home not behind the wheel of the Italian 2+2. However, once he was home, the man thought it wouldn’t hurt anything to put out on social media that his car had been swiped.
Dropping a photo of his Ferrari 400 GT and a short message about its theft on a page for his car club called Highball, Smith thought there might be a chance one of his associates knew something. Never did he imagine one of his friends would post the picture to Instagram, getting a lead on the whereabouts of the car within 30 minutes.
Someone spotted the distinctive vehicle in an underground parking garage and passed the location on to Smith through his friend. A mere 20 minutes later, Smith was beside his beloved car, waiting for the police to show up.
Thankfully, the Ferrari 400 appears to be in good condition, likely indicating the thieves intended to sell it for pure profit. They drilled out the ignition cylinder to get the car started, a noisy but quick job with the right tools, but that was the only visible damage.
Lest you think Smith got his Ferrari back immediately, the police had to take possession to process it for fingerprints. While that’s frustrating, in many areas the police do little to nothing to catch and prosecute car thieves, so hearing that they’re putting in that kind of effort is great.
Source: 3AW
