An “Aladdin’s cave” of stolen tools in Counties Manukau East

A 28-year-old Flat Bush man has been arrested and charged with multiple dishonesty offences after a search of a property early this morning.

Counties Manukau Police had been investigating a series of burglaries and recovered a stolen, almost new dirt bike and in excess of $25,000 worth of power tools.

Sergeant John Roberts of the Counties Manukau East Tactical Crime Unit said that once the property was searched they were very pleased to find an Aladdin’s cave of stolen power tools and the motorbike.

“Honest hard-working tradies suffer from this type of offending and often struggle to get insurance to cover the loss of their tools”.

The investigation is on-going and police expect to lay more charges in the coming week.

“These offenders, and anyone buying stolen property, have a huge impact on people trying to make an honest living”, said Mr Roberts.

Police are wanting to remind all tradies to record their serial numbers and clearly mark all of their tools, even if they just take a photo of their tools including the serial number on their phones.

“It is frustrating when we recover property we know is stolen, but struggle to find an owner”, said Mr Roberts.

Anyone with information on stolen property can contact the Counties Manukau Police on 09 261 1300 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

ENDS

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