The police helicopter swept over Oneroa and western Waiheke on Monday morning, providing an eye in the sky for a police manhunt.
Sergeant Raymond Matthews says they were called out to the Church Bay area around 5.30am, with reports of a man breaking into multiple properties.
A post in a local community Facebook page that morning suggests at least one of those properties was occupied when he broke in. The post says a man broke into the home of the authors’ friend while a terrified mother and daughter hid from him in a closet. They asked everyone to keep an eye out for someone with fresh cuts or bandages, since the intruder had badly cut themselves breaking in.
Sergeant Matthews confirmed one of the properties was occupied and it was those people who first called police. Sergeant Matthews says the Eagle police helicopter was called in to help officers on the ground find the man involved. “He was later located inside an address on Church Bay Road and was taken into custody without incident. At the time our staff located him, the man had some injuries and was provided with medical treatment.”
The 33-year-old Herne Bay man they arrested has been charged with two counts of burglary and with attempting to steal a car to make his escape. He is due to appear in Auckland District Court on Friday.
Police are also reminding people to secure their vehicles and keep their keys on their person, after a joy-riding spree over the weekend.
Sergeant Matthews says two cars and two mopeds were stolen from the Oneroa area last weekend and dumped in Surfdale near the Esplanade. • Paul Mitchell
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