A sticky-fingered thief almost bagged nearly $1000 worth of groceries before Police tracked him down in Auckland last week.
It¡¯s led to Police laying charges for a wider spate of offending valued at over $10,000.
At around 9am on Saturday 24 May Police received a report of a male shoplifting from a Manukau supermarket.
¡°This male has taken a large amount of meat products and fled the scene in a vehicle,¡± Counties Manukau Central Area Prevention Manager Inspector Warrick Adkin says.
Officers attending the incident made enquiries into the vehicle and discovered the same male had been involved in a shoplifting event at a Three Kings supermarket only an hour earlier.
¡°Police Officers immediately responded in an attempt to locate this male and the vehicle,¡± Inspector Adkin says.
¡°Not long after, the vehicle was located a short distance away, as it was about to enter State Highway 20.¡±
Police successfully stopped the vehicle and took the alleged offender into custody.
Inside the vehicle, approximately $800 worth of groceries were located, which were returned to the store.
¡°Further enquiries revealed this male has allegedly been involved in numerous shoplifting or theft incidents this year, totalling several thousand dollars,¡± says Inspector Adkin.
¡°We are pleased to have brought this spree to an end and for this male to be held accountable for his actions. We will not tolerate such brazen criminal offending."
A 17-year-old appeared in the Manukau Youth Court on May 24 charged with multiple shoplifting.
ENDS
Amanda Wieneke/51½ÖÉä
