Missing Marokopa dad Tom Phillips allegedly used stolen quadbike, smashed shopfront
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
Police believe Tom Phillips has been getting around on a stolen quad bike - including to smash a Piopio shopfront - and are now seeking sightings of the bike.
The red farm-style quad, with no registration, was reported stolen from a Marokopa Rd property in Te Anga on Thursday, November 2, police said.
CCTV footage shows what is believed to be missing Marokopa man Phillips and one of his children breaking the front glass of a store in Piopio, before fleeing after an alarm was activated around 2.10am.
Police have released a picture of the pair, who are said to have driven from the scene on the quad bike, heading south.
Police are continuing their enquiries as they search for Phillips and his children, and are urging the public to report sightings of the vehicle.
It is understood that the shop Phillips attempted to burgle was the Piopio Superette.
The CCTV footage also shows the man alleged to be Phillips shaking a spray can before reaching up towards the cameras.
Many in the town had either just heard the news that Phillips had been spotted in the town or were unaware entirely.
Some surmised that the 50km Trip from Te Anga to Piopio would have been an uncomfortable ride on a farm quad.
Private investigator Carl Budge who follows the case in his own time says that residents who live in the broad area where Phillips has been sighted - loosely as far north as Otorohanga and as far south as Pio Pio, then to the coast, should pay attention to quad bikes or farm bikes travelling public roads after dark.
Budge added, “what’s a little bit concerning is he’s trying to break into a superette which raises if he’s having food troubles.”
Phillips has been on the run with Jayda, Maverick and Ember– now aged 10, 8, and 7 – since January last year and is in breach of a custody order.
A warrant is out for his arrest.
But Phillips appears intent on evading law enforcement for as long as he can.
In September, police called a press conference to spread the word after Phillips was charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawful possession of a firearm in relation to a bank robbery in Te Kūiti in May.
Acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders said he couldn’t elaborate about why police believed Phillips was involved in the robbery.
But he urged people in the community helping Phillips to think about these new charges, and consider the welfare of the children and contact police.
Shots were fired in the robbery, yet no-one was injured. Witnesses at the time said they heard a bang and saw people running out of the ANZ on Rora St, dropping money as they went.
Saunders said the main focus of this investigation had always been to locate the children and ensure their safety.
The robbery was prior to sightings of Phillips in Waikato in August, behind the wheel of a bronze Toyota Hilux ute which had been stolen from near Te Awamutu.
He was seen in Pokuru near Te Awamutu; then at Bunnings Warehouse in Hamilton’s Te Rapa, before the ute he was driving was involved in an “altercation” in Kāwhia, police said.
Police recovered the ute 25m into the bush not far from Phillips’ home in the remote Waikato settlement of Marokopa, but the family was yet to be located.
Saunders would not say if the banknotes used by Phillips in Bunnings were from the robbery.
The Marokopa family first made headlines when Phillips disappeared with the children in September 2021, sparking extensive police searches, only to walk through the door after more than two weeks in the bush.
A warrant was consequently issued after Phillips failed to appear in Te Kūiti District Court in January 2022 on a charge of wasting police time and resources.