'Out of control' teen girls, allegedly steal car, go on joyride
A group of underage teenage girls have somehow managed to travel hundreds of kilometres on NSW roads and ended up on the mid-north coast.
The three girls aged 15, 13 and 12 years old allegedly stole a Nissan Nivara from the 13-year-old’s Coomera house on the Gold Coast on Monday.
The car was reported stolen at 5am and police said the girls were trying to reach Sydney after they allegedly travelled south across the border.
They managed to drive more than 500 kilometres to a McDonald's at the Glenthorpe Service Station Centre on the Pacific Highway where police found them almost 12 hours later.
“These out of control teenagers and a child of 12 in that car shouldn’t be able to get that far,” one of the girl’s aunts said.
A staff member notified police after receiving a call from one of the girl’s mothers asking her to look out for them.
Acting Inspector Ben Atkinson said the car hadn't been involved in any crashes.
"(They were) apparent runaways, although they weren't reported as missing people," he told AAP on Tuesday.
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The girls were taken into the care of the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.
"The initial concern is for their welfare because of their ages," Inspector Atkinson said.
However, the 15-year-old driver was cautioned under the Young Offender's Act, he said.
The incident follows a similar case last month involving a 12-year-old boy who drove about 1300km across NSW on his way to Perth.
He set off from a home near Port Macquarie and was only stopped at Broken Hill when police noticed the car's bumper dragging on the ground.
