Burglars arrested in Whangarei
Northland District
Headquarters
88 Cameron Street,
Whangärei
Tuesday August 12,
2014
Police have arrested two burglars in Whangärei thanks to the assistance from members of the public.
About 4.20pm yesterday three offenders broke into a house in Maunu and stole several items including electronic gear and alcohol. A neighbour saw the car being used by the offenders and called police immediately.
Police searched the area, but couldn't locate the car.
Several hours later a police patrol saw the wanted car and
stopped it on Dent Street.
They searched the car and
found items that had been stolen from the Maunu
address.
After speaking with the driver Police conducted further inquiries and searched four addresses around Whangärei. As a result of the searches Police found more stolen property at three of the addresses.
The male driver
aged 44 years, who was stopped on Dent Street, was arrested
for receiving stolen property.
Two people, a 26-year-old
woman and 22-year-old man, were located at two of the
addresses and charged with burglary. They will appear in the
Whangärei District Court tomorrow.
Police are now looking for the third offender who was involved in the burglary.
Whangärei/Kaipara Area Commander Inspector Justin Rogers says the vigilance of a neighbour who went to the trouble of getting details of the vehicle as it left the scene helped police to locate the burglars.
Mr Rogers says prior to the Maunu burglary a resident on Cemetery Road had confronted the burglars as she thought they were acting suspiciously. She called police and gave some good detail on the people in the car.
"The neighbour of the house that
was burgled took photographs of the vehicle including its
registration number plate and the resident on Cemetery Road
gave police some very good details of the car and offenders,
which meant we had some good information to work with. Both
people called police immediately.
We always encourage
people to report suspicious activity and give us as much
detail as possible and in this is a great example of where
this has paid off."
Mr Rogers says police staff also did a very good job by acting with urgency in gaining as much information as possible to locate offenders involved plus the stolen property.
"The photograph of the wanted car was sent to the mobility devices of staff on duty and as a result one officer recognised the car when he was on his way to another incident.
Within eight hours of the burglary occurring we had most of the offenders and had returned the stolen items to the victim who was very happy to get his property back."
ENDS