An offender left himself seeing red, after a dangerous dash through red lights foiled his getaway from a burglary.
The man came to Police attention in Newmarket just after 10am on Tuesday.
“A camera operator based in Newmarket observed a ute running through several red lights and travelling on the wrong side of the road, into oncoming traffic on Broadway,” Sergeant Lindsey Dawson, from Newmarket Police says.
“This information was relayed to Police, with the ute eventually being located parked up, hidden at the rear of a motel on Owens Road in Epsom.”
A male matching the description of the driver was seen exiting one of the units and was quickly taken into custody.
“Our staff were quickly putting the dots together, as the ute matched the description of a vehicle seen casing out several Newmarket businesses earlier in the morning,” Sergeant Dawson says.
Police soon established that a burglary occurred at a Newmarket restaurant off Khyber Pass Road just prior to 10am, where a safe was taken from the premises.
After being spoken to, the man led Police to the location where the safe had been stashed, cash still inside, Sergeant Dawson says.
It’s left the 53-year-old man facing charges of burglary and dangerous driving in the Auckland District Court today.
Sergeant Dawson says Police will oppose the man’s bail.
“It’s a fantastic result, thanks to the watchful eye of the Newmarket camera operator in collaboration with Police, along with good old Police work in locating the ute, which means we’ve been able to hold the man accountable for poor driving behaviour and a burglary.”
Image credit: Zeki Okur
Cultural rights?
Great work NZ police! 👍