Police say the raid on a Ngongotahā, Rotorua, property to recover a stolen tiny house on wheels has uncovered more stolen items.
On Friday, March 1, the 7m-long accommodation pod and trailer allegedly stolen from a locked yard in Katikati were recovered by police after a tip-off from the public.
Police confirmed the pod had “minor cosmetic damage” and signs of forced entry. It had been driven from Katikati to Rotorua, about 2.5 hours away, in the early hours of the morning.
In the process of recovering the tiny home, police also located and seized a motorbike and trailer they believed to be stolen.
”Investigations continue into these items,” says a member of the police tactical crime unit.
A local man in his 20s will appear in Rotorua District court in relation to the theft of the tiny house.
Police say information received from the public by the pod’s maker, Tiny House Builder’s LTD owner Rebecca McLean, was instrumental in locating and recovering the stolen items.
On Friday, McLean said a member of the public had spotted the stashed pod and let her know. She passed that information to police, but had to wait for them to get a search warrant before they could recover the tiny house.
"We had our tow truck waiting in the wings, and when they were given the green light they were able to go and remove it from the site.
"There's a bit of damage on [the pod]. Nothing that can't be fixed, but it is going to need work to get it back to where it was."’
She's grateful to the community for information that led to uncovering the pod.
"I'm so relieved for the client.
"It's just great to have a good result and to know that [the alleged thief has] been apprehended."
The wait for the search warrant had been tense.
"I just said to [the police], 'look, you can't leave it there for days. Because if they get wind then it's going up the bush and we'll never get it back’."
McLean discovered the burglary on Monday, February 26, when a colleague working at the site called her to ask if she had moved the pod.
She arrived at the site to find the gate had been lifted off its hinges, the tow bar lock “smashed off”, and a security camera monitoring the rented site turned away.
"It appears they left it about an hour just to make sure it wasn't monitored before breaking in.“
She believes the theft had taken place at about 2am.
McLean says they received several tips since the call-out for help, including one from a driver who alleged they overtook the home on the road to Rotorua as it was holding up traffic.
The pod, which has a “unique” construction using powder-coated, cedar-look aluminium joinery, had already been sold, and was part of a pair destined to be Whangamatā baches.The new owners had paid about $90,000 for it. With the trailer and staging added, McLean says the value of the recovered property is about $120,000.
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