Brazen burglaries frighten residents

Mount Maunganui residents are feeling scared and angry after a spate of burglaries and thefts from homes in the last few months.

Residents living in Eversham Road and the surrounding Arataki streets say the area has been plagued with break-ins with brazen thieves stealing items while residents sleep in the next room.

Porina McLeod is taking a stand against the burglars, giving out flyers warning residents to take extra safety precautions.

Eversham Road resident Porina McLeod says residents have been left scared and angry and they have had enough.

“I have had it with our trusting community being robbed of what we work so hard for.”

Porina had her red Honda CTX off-road motorbike taken from inside her garage on Friday, May 25 between 1am and 6am.

She says her and her three children including a baby were sleeping inside at the time.

“I went in the garage at 9am to get the washing and noticed a few things had been moved and it was a little bare, realising the bike was stolen and a path was made to get it out.

“It’s just sickening that these people can just come along, they come in while people are home, if the back doors open they will walk in while people are in the house.”

She says the burglaries have left her feeling unsafe and angry.

Another resident Ange Marsh is concerned about the safety of her family after having her white Subaru Legacy stolen from the driveway last month.

“It’s really scary. We reckon it had to be rolled off the property and down the street before they started it; because it has quite a large muffler.”

Ange says the burglars must have switched off the property’s security lights as the next night they did not turn on automatically.

“We have security lights, which light up the place like Vegas.”

Another resident Bernadette August was asleep when burglars entered her home on Inverell Place and stole a laptop and her daughter’s piggy-bank.

“They were obviously tip-toeing around; I didn’t hear a thing.”

She says the event left her and her partner shaken.

“My partner had trouble sleeping for weeks afterwards.”

Detective Sergeant Darryl Brazier says in the two weeks prior to Monday, May 21, police received six reports of similar burglaries on Eversham Road and the surrounding streets.

He says last week police spoke with a 16-year-old youth in relation to one of the burglaries.

He says since then those particular break-ins appear to have stopped.

“We were looking at a certain number in that area with the same method of operation.

“I’m not suggesting this person is responsible for all crime in that area.

“All we can say as a crime prevention method, we did what we did and it seems to have abated the crimes of that formula.”

Porina and other residents have made flyers and are handing them around the neighbourhood in an attempt to prevent further break-ins.