Counties Manukau Police say a sticky-fingered thief almost bagged nearly $1000 worth of groceries before officers tracked him down in Auckland last week.
It’s led to police laying charges for a wider spate of offending valued at more than $10,000, they say.
At around 9am on Saturday May 24, police say they 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,” says inspector Warrick Adkin, the Counties Manukau Central Police area prevention manager.
He 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,” 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, says Adkin.
Inside the vehicle, about $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 Adkin.
“We’re 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.”
Police say a 17-year-old appeared in the Manukau Youth Court on May 24 charged with multiple shoplifting.
