Police – Stolen goods recovered

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for us here at the Warkworth Police Station. Those of you who read this column regularly will no doubt recall me talking about a spate of thefts from unlocked vehicles a few weeks back. As a result of some good work by a couple of our front-line staff, we were able to link an out-of-area suspect to that kind of offending. A search warrant was executed and thousands of dollars’ worth of property, mainly high-end battery powered tools and good-quality chainsaws, were recovered from a caravan used by this person.

The importance of keeping a note of the serial numbers on valuable items was brought home to me when, thanks to the marvellous records kept by Stihl New Zealand, we were able to reunite those recovered chainsaws with their happy owners. Some of the other tools have been returned, but we have a few left at the station. If you think they might be yours, pop in and see us, but remember you will need to be able to positively identify your equipment in some way.

If you haven’t already, it’s a great idea to get to work with an engraver on those quality tools you own. It makes returning recovered stolen property so much easier for us. By the way, that suspect was remanded in custody and, as an amazing coincidence, thefts from cars have fallen by over 50 per cent across our area since that individual departed.

It never ceases to amaze me how the dishonest actions of one person can create so many victims of crime in a very short time. Good riddance!

A second search warrant executed a couple of days ago by Warkworth staff has recovered high-end camera equipment and jewellery stolen from a local home by an opportunist burglar earlier this week.

That suspect is also enjoying the hospitality of Corrections while awaiting the outcome of the court case.

While holding these rat-bags to account is important to police, the real bonus for those of us lucky enough to work here at Warkworth is being able to reunite local folk with their hard-earned valuables.

The best advice I can give to anyone who never wants to experience losing their property is make things hard for those few who would steal from us. Take your valuables out of your car and always lock it. Put your work vehicle in the garage so your tools are out of sight.

I know, as the hot weather begins, it’s tempting to leave the house front door wide open to let the breeze through, but if you’re going to do that, please make sure you stay right there.

Let’s not make it easy for opportunist thieves.

Stay safe.