A good Samaritan has had his car stolen after helping free a driver from a crashed luxury SUV on the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday morning.
The white Jaguar smashed into a tree along Steve Irwin Way about 9am, drawing other drivers and people to the scene to help.
The group worked to free the man, then realised he had fled in one of their cars, understood to be a Mazda CX-5 SUV.
Sunshine Coast photographer Cade Mooney was one of those who rushed to help, after hearing the crash.
"We heard a massive bang," he said.
"We saw a heap of brake lights and then just knew it was a car crash, so we started making our way towards Steve Irwin Way through the bush.
Mr Mooney said the group helped free the male driver, as he moved around the SUV to check that no-one else was inside.
"By the time I'd done the check, they were saying 'sit down, sit down', but he [the driver] kept walking away from the car," he said.
"And as he walked away from the car he just jumped into one of the good Samaritan's cars and drove off.
Mr Mooney said police arrived about five minutes later, along with firefighters and paramedics.
Sergeant Errol Coultis from the Beerwah station said the vehicle came close to rolling down the embankment after it struck the tree.
He said the man from the crashed car had to be freed by onlookers, then fled the scene in a vehicle that one of the witnesses had left running.
He said police obtained a version of events from the good Samaritan at the scene, who was then driven back to Caloundra by another witness.
"The vehicle remains outstanding at this time," Sergeant Coultis said.
