In a dramatic late-night incident captured on home surveillance cameras, a vigilant Gold Coast resident chased off an alleged fuel thief from his business property while responding barefoot to the crime, with the viral footage now being used to help police identify the suspect.
James Longstaff, a 23-year-old who works out of Molendinar, was up working on an overnight video editing project around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when he happened to check his live CCTV feed. What he spotted at first looked like a suspicious figure loitering near his work truck parked outside the building, but a closer look confirmed his worst fears: the stranger was actively siphoning diesel from the vehicle’s tank.
Instead of waiting for police or backing away from the confrontation, Longstaff acted on instinct. Grabbing only his phone, he rushed straight out of his business and onto the street to confront the would-be thief—never stopping to put on shoes. The viral footage he later posted to his Instagram account shows him approaching the truck as the suspect scrambled into their waiting ute and attempted to make a quick escape.
As the ute pulled away, Longstaff can be heard shouting in disbelief at the thief, who left the siphon pump hanging on the side of the road, leaking spilled diesel onto the pavement. In a moment of dry, dark humor after the suspect fled, Longstaff joked that he had ended up with a free new pump, before calling the alleged culprit a “flog”.
In a surprising twist, the suspect apparently circled back to the area just minutes after the first confrontation, only to flee a second time when Longstaff ran back outside to confront them again.
Speaking to 7News after the incident, Longstaff said his response was purely impulsive. “It was just a one-second response really. I was like ‘screw this guy’,” he explained. He also noted that the rising cost of fuel, which has created widespread financial strain for motorists and businesses across Australia, makes targeted fuel theft even more unfair to hardworking owners. Longstaff uploaded the footage to social media with one clear goal: to help local police track down and identify the alleged thief, who remains at large. As of Thursday, the video has been viewed thousands of times, drawing widespread attention to the late-night encounter.