General News
8 May, 2026
Stolen truck reunited with owner
A CARAMUT business owner has been reunited with his stolen truck on Monday, with police investigations ongoing into the circumstances surrounding the theft.
A truck and tag trailer were stolen from a job site of Forest and Garden Tree Services, with an online plea seeing sightings listed near Mortlake before the truck and trailer were recovered on the Darlington-Carranballac Road at around 3pm.
Business owner Warrick Petering said the theft had been a case of bad luck when the crew was working in a farmer’s paddock.
“A witness rang up after I put a post up on Facebook seeking information on where it went,” he said.
“Whoever’s stolen it has taken off.
“You feel violated because they’ve been in there and rummaged around in it – they’ve pulled the dashboard out of it.
“I’ve got staff who want to be able to work the next day, so it affects them as well.
“I’ve only got one of those tag trailers, so we can’t go and work if it’s been stolen – we’d have to buy a replacement or go through insurance.”
Advertisement
The truck and trailer were found with an issue with the trailer as well as damage to the truck.
Mr Petering, however, was glad to have the truck found, saying a big fear of many small businesses was not getting stolen equipment returned.
“The truck and trailer set up, with all the chainsaws and other tools, is roughly around $100,000,” he said.
“You don’t want to have to lock up anything on a job site 24/7, waiting for a thief to show up – it’s inconvenient.
“We’ll be locking a lot more up in the future – once you get robbed, you think twice.
“It’s a series of unfortunate events.”
Victoria Police was unable to comment as investigations are ongoing.