Hunt for man who took lawnmower for test drive in Cairns

Hunt for shirtless man who took a luxury ride-on lawnmower for a test drive – but never came back

  • A man approached another man, 63, asking to look at his ride-on lawnmower
  • The man then took the luxury lawnmower for a ‘test drive’ but failed to return
  • Incident was at Edmonton near Cairns in Far North Queensland on May 3
  • Queensland Police are still attempting to locate the man who allegedly stole it


Police are on the hunt for a man who took a luxury ride-on lawnmower for a test drive – but failed to return.   

An elderly man, 63, from Edmonton near Cairns in Far North Queensland, was approached by a shirtless man who asked to look at his John Deere mower about 3.30pm on May 3.

The man then took the luxury mower for a test-drive in neighbouring streets but never came back. 

Video released by Queensland Police shows a man, wearing a red cap and shorts, making a very slow ‘escape’ in the Tropical region. 

 The man (pictured) asked to look at the John Deere mower at an address in Edmonton near Cairns in Far North Queensland on May 3 – but never came back

The high-end mower has since been recovered, but police are trying to locate the man who allegedly stole it.

He was driving a blue Toyota Aurion sedan before he took off on the mower, in a decision best described as rash. 

An ‘entry level’ John Deere E110 ride on lawnmower retails for approximately $3,600.

They are described as ‘compact yet powerful’, and are fairly easy to use thanks to its two-pedal hydrostatic transmission. 

In 2018, a John Deere ride on lawnmower was among the items stolen from a cemetery in Queensland’s remote Gympie Region.

At the time, Bill Greer, the Senior Constable for Imbil Police, described the brazen theft as ‘appalling behaviour.’

It remains unknown if the lawnmower was eventually recovered. 

Police later recovered the luxury ride on mower, but the man (pictured) who allegedly stole it in Far North Queensland remains at large

 Police later recovered the luxury ride on mower, but the man (pictured) who allegedly stole it in Far North Queensland remains at large