Wednesday, 13 December 2023 - 12:10pm |
Counties Manukau

Police dog tracks alleged offenders two kilometres before arrests

1 min read

Two youths have been taken into custody after a burglary and fleeing driver event in Takanini this morning.

Police were notified at around 3.19am, that a group of people had broken into a commercial premises on Great South Road.

Counties Manukau South Area Commander, Inspector Joe Hunter, says a stolen vehicle had been used to force entry into the building.

¡°The offenders have tied a rope or chain from the vehicle to the cage covering the rear window and ripped it off.?

¡°From there, the offenders have smashed through the window and six of them have entered.

¡°They have proceeded to break the glass displays and take various electronic items.¡±

It was at this time, that a Police unit patrolling the area arrived at the scene.?

¡°Two offenders got into the stolen vehicle and fled the scene, pursued by Police, and threw several stolen items out of the window.

¡°The pursuit was abandoned due to the manner of driving, but Police came across the vehicle in a ditch a short time later.

¡°A Police dog team then tracked the offenders some two kilometres down a rough track and eventually caught up with the pair who were taken into custody,¡± Inspector Hunter says.

Charges are being considered for the alleged offenders, and the stolen vehicle has been recovered.

¡°This was great work from our front-line team to make these apprehensions so quickly and demonstrates why it¡¯s important to be patrolling our community in these early hours.

¡°We want to reassure the community that this type of offending will not be tolerated. We work hard to hold offenders to account to ensure the safety of our community,¡± Inspector Hunter says.

Four of the offenders are still outstanding, and a Police investigation is ongoing.

ENDS.

Tony Wright/51½ÖÉä