The 2000 Honda Civic was a good if unsexy car, coming out in the model’s late middle years. Famously reliable, a lot of 2000 Honda Civics are still puttering around, too, like this one in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, that was viciously stolen Friday via a forklift.
The car was a project car for David Rose and his son, Rose told KHON. It was taken in less than a minute. There’s a surprising amount of things going on in the surveillance video before a forklift enters the screen from the right around the 0:55 mark:
The car was later found stripped and burned just a few blocks from where it was originally parked, leaving Rose devastated.
“I was like wow! I put an alarm on it. I put even that lock for the steering wheel and even for the gas pedal, the clutch. No matter what you do to secure your vehicle, they’ll find a way to steal it and that’s wrong,” Rose said.
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“It really hurts. It hits home, you know what I mean? It’s personal. I understand they steal the car but they did it personal when they burned it,” Rose said.
Honolulu police are investigating the matter, and have asked the public for tips; you can find their contact information here. In the meantime, Rose says he’ll eventually get back on his feet.
“I work very hard and try to provide for my family. Yes, I do fall down, but I try to pick myself back up and when people try to knock me down again, it hurts. It really hurts,” Rose said.
Don’t steal cars! This is also a good reminder that most every car, no matter how seemingly mundane, means something to someone.