Stolen Ford Mustang tracked by Facebook users

A PROUD Ford Mustang owner has been reunited with his car after police were guided to the location of three carjackers by Facebook users, just four hours after the car had been forcibly taken from him.

Ford has been unable to match the demand for the iconic sports car since it was introduced to Australia early last year with customers asked to wait more than a year for their pony car, but the three thieves in Canberra decided to jump the wait list and its owner.

According to ABC News, real estate agent Steve Thomas was approached by three men outside a property in Yarralumla, who threatened him with a crowbar and ordered him out of the car.

Before the thieves sped off in the Ruby Red Mustang GT, Thomas asked for his phone and after being thrown his device, the victim called the police and immediately turned to Facebook for help in finding the car.

Sympathetic followers picked up the social media post and continued to update the feed with pictures and messages as the distinctive car was tracked through the capital, eventually tracing it to a service station in Canberra Avenue.

Thomas forwarded the latest image to police and, by chance, officers of a tactical unit that was also refuelling at the servo recognised the car and managed to apprehend one suspect, while the other two galloped away in the Mustang.

Mounting pressure from hawkeyed social media scouts and the police was clearly too much for the criminals though and they abandoned the car a short distance later, allowing police to return the car to its rightful owner.

Ford’s Mustang continues to be Australia’s favourite sports car with 5967 examples registered to the end of July this year, the 5.0-litre V8 being the clear favourite by a sizeable margin.

Perhaps the crims could have avoided doing bird if they had walked into a Ford dealership and placed a deposit for the less popular EcoBoost version, which has a shorter waiting list, and an affordable starting price of just $45,990 before on-road costs.

Following Australia’s appetite for the model, Ford recently acquired a greater allocation for local fans, which has reduced the waiting list to about four months.