The partner of a woman who was robbed while lying seriously injured in an Auckland car crash has been overwhelmed by the "massive influx of support" the couple have received since their story went viral online.
Murray Howell made a Facebook post yesterday describing a "horrible incident" following a serious head on car crash his partner Shevaughn Johnstone was involved in in South Auckland on November 2.
After Ms Johnstone's car collided with a truck on Cosgrave Rd in the Auckland suburb of Papakura North at 1.15pm, she was robbed while lying semi-conscious and bleeding in the wreck.
Paramedics were trying to cut Ms Johnstone out of the car at the time Ms Johnstone's wallet and iPhone were taken from her handbag.
The three thieves then went on a spending spree, emptying the funds of Ms Johnstone's credit card.
In a statement made today Mr Howell's expressed his surprise at the public response his post has received, and relayed that Ms Johnstone was "recovering well" from her injuries.
"On behalf of Shevaughn and myself we would to express our thanks and gratitude for the massive influx of support and well wishes after what for my part initially was a Facebook vent to a mere 50 odd friends," Mr Howell said.
"Rather than just being able to deal with the hand that was before us, we were faced with the extra emotion of wanting to find out what had happened.
"We have been quite shocked at the outpouring of emotion the subject matter has obviously raised and it seems this is not the first time it has happened to an accident victim.
"We have been lucky enough to recover the main items back through good fortune and as seen in this crazy viral post, in this world of 2 degrees separation it seems a simple call to arms musters an army of responders."
Mr Howell said he made the Facebook post in order to bring the "true scum" responsible for the theft to justice.
He posted footage of what Mr Howell says is one of the thieves making their first purchase in the Z service station after taking Ms Johnstone's wallet.
Police are asking anyone with information, or knowledge of the man in the CCTV footage, to contact Papakura Police on 09 2950200, or anonymously on Crime stoppers 0800 555 111.
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