Shocking dash cam footage chronicles reckless Vancouver joyride in stolen car

A Vancouver man who recently had his vehicle stolen is sharing his story — and the disturbing dash cam video — after the thief took a dangerous joyride across the city.

The alleged theft happened in Chinatown, and the car was driven all over the city for much of the afternoon before the suspect abandoned it, still running, in South Vancouver.

Michael Aresta said he had jumped out of his car around 4:30 p.m. on Monday to run a quick errand. In his haste, he left it running, and the footage shows a woman quickly jumping in and taking off.

The video shows the car speeding erratically through the streets, blowing through red lights at busy intersections, and driving through bike lanes and into oncoming traffic.

Now circulating online, the footage has shocked viewers, but eyewitnesses say it was even more unbelievable in real life.

“The car just went from the third lane on this side of the traffic, into the intersection, and just did a left turn with all of the passing cars going by, and I’m just like, ‘Okay, what is going on?’” one eyewitness said.

“Is this person drunk or something, or do they think they’re playing a video game?”

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) recovered the car at 10 p.m. Monday near Ontario Street and East 63rd Avenue, after a neighbour reported it had been left unoccupied and running for two hours.

It isn’t clear what the driver got up to in the meantime, but Aresta says the car was ransacked and suffered significant damage.

He is now waiting to see if it will be written off by ICBC.

“I’ve definitely seen videos online, but I never thought it would happen to me,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a lesson learned. Doesn’t matter if it’s two seconds or a minute, you have to turn off your car and lock it, just to be safe.”

The VPD has identified a person of interest in the case, and the investigation is ongoing.