Three hooded figures broke into Mark Trueno’s Coopers Plains workshop to steal his prized collection of cars on Friday.
One man went to work at the back of the tank with an angle grinder while another tried to reverse the military vehicle in haste and crushed him in the process.
“They’ve come prepared. They’ve got crowbar, grinder, torch, everything except their own brain apparently,” Trueno told 9News Queensland.
The driver climbed out of the vehicle, rifled through several drawers and ran away while the injured man was pinned against the bollard.
“The CCTV reminded me of like Home Alone where there’s clown criminals just doing things over and over just wrong,” Trueno said.
Trueno said the thieves still managed to get away with the keys to three cars worth more than $500,000 and full of sentimental value.
“It’s really upsetting because I mean these are two of my dream cars from when I was a kid,” Trueno said.
“Then just to see someone bust down the doors and try take them 12-tonnes of military vehicle thwarted their plan.”
The tank is currently being restored to raise money for the Tough Times Foundation, which builds wheelchair-accessible vans.