20 Honda Civic Type Rs Among 40-Plus Cars Stolen from Australian Port

By early in the morning on Monday, a massive car theft had taken place at the Port Melbourne car yard in Melbourne, Australia, with more 40 vehicles being taken — including, notably, 20 brand-new Honda Civic Type Rs, according to Victoria Police. The total value of the vehicles exceeds $2 million AUD, or about $1.3 million.

Before any of our Aussie readers with a Type R on order get too worried, however, stop and take a breath: as of the time of this writing, 17 vehicles have been recovered and a suspect has been arrested.

Police say they believe two men and two women forced their way into the new car port sometime between 3pm Sunday and 6:30am Monday. At the port, here security cameras captured the perpetrators driving the vehicles right out of the lot. Many of the vehicles were still wearing the protective film used to prevent damage during transit at the time of the theft.

Police have released a list of all the 45 vehicles believed stolen. The Civic Type R was the most popular by far, with 20 examples taken, but the list also includes the Honda Accord, CR-V and ZR-V (known in the U.S. as the HR-V). The list of vehicles reported taken also includes three Skoda Kamiqs, five Skoda Kodiaqs, three Skoda Superbs, three Volkswagen Tiguans, two GWM Tank 300s, two Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans, and one Volkswagen Golf R.

A 32-year-old woman was interviewed and subsequently arrested by police. She is charged with damage to an emergency service vehicle by reckless driving, theft of motor vehicle, possession of butanediol and false plates, and unlicensed driving. Police are still searching for the remaining suspects, as well as the nearly 30 vehicles that are still missing.

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