"Wellington Police catch Christmas parcel thieves"

Santa had a bit of a helping hand to save a number of Christmas presents yesterday, thanks to some great work by a number of Wellington District staff.

Police were called around 11am when a courier van was stolen from an address on Rowe Road, Wainuiomata where it had been delivering a parcel.

After receiving information from members of the public who reported seeing suspicious behaviour in the area, staff already deployed in the area were able to locate and arrest the man responsible a short time later.

The 34-year-old man has been charged and is due to appear in the Wellington District Court on 14 December.

It’s one of several other similar incident in the Wellington area recently, where a number of offenders have stolen courier parcels.

Last Wednesday 6 December Police received a Burglary complaint from a resident of Mclintock Street in Johnsonville, who had a courier package taken from her doorstep.

A few days later, Police were also alerted about a woman who had been caught by a resident in Ngaio stealing a package from her letterbox.

Thanks to good information from members of the public, Police were able to locate the offender and the vehicle she was driving.

The 28-year-old female driver was arrested and is due to appear in the Porirua District Court on 15 Decemberfacing charges of theft.

The 32-year-old passenger was also arrested, and was found to also be responsible for the incident in Johnsonville.

He is also due to appear in the Porirua District Court on 15 December facing charges of theft, dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

There have also been another two similar incidents in Johnsonville area, and enquiries are underway in relation to this.

It’s a timely reminder to people to protect themselves from this type of offending, as it is unfortunately common in the lead up to Christmas.

Our advice is as follows:

• It is best to get packages delivered to a place where someone will be home to receive them.

• If you do have deliveries made to your home, make sure you're going to be home to sign for them, or have a secure location where they can be left.

• If you're not going to be home when the parcel is delivered, it is best to arrange to collect your parcel from the depot, or have the parcel redirected to the address of someone you trust.

• Be smart when disposing of packaging, so as not to advertise the fact you have bought a new TV, computer, etc.

• Report any suspicious behaviour to Police - e.g.

if you see a car following a courier van, or an unexpected visitor knocks on your door asking for someone you don't know.

ENDS

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