A man who allegedly attempted to rob a Mount Maunganui home is nursing a puncture wound to his arm after being bitten by a police dog in the sand dunes as he attempted to flee the scene.

The 25-year-old Hamilton man was caught by police dogs on the Mount beach after allegedly attempting to drive off in a Marine Parade resident's new Holden loaded full of items from the home.

Jim Morell thwarted a burglary at his home last night. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

He appeared in the Tauranga District Court this morning charged with burglary.

Detective Sergeant Darryl Brazier says alleged offender was located by police running from a Marine Parade address at around midnight last night.

'As a result of his actions he was apprehended by a police dog and spent some time in hospital where he was released around 7am.

'I imagine he was remanded in custody today because we opposed his bail,” says Darryl.

'All the property he was in the process of stealing was recovered.”

Property owner Jim Morell was sleeping at his Marine Parade home when he and his wife heard a strange noise around 11pm.

'We heard something fall over and thought ‘Oh that's strange, no-one's downstairs'. I had a look outside and couldn't find anything.

'So I went to sleep and then later on heard another noise and thought ‘God this is strange, I should go downstairs' and next minute I heard the garage door opening.”

Jim says the man was attempting to steal his new Holden car, filled with items from his downstairs flat.

The alleged offender had broken into the downstairs flat by snapping a window latch off one of the windows.

'I saw him out on my back lawn and I yelled at him ‘what the hell do you think you're doing'.

'He took off and jumped a 6ft fence I have out the back of my house and he went straight over it and hid in Pohutukawa trees. Five minutes later we were on the phone with police and they told us to keep an eye on him.”

Jim says the alleged offender walked down Muricata Ave and tried to get back into his section, which he thought was strange.

'He spotted me, so walked down Muricata Ave and through a walkway onto Marine Parade. 'He walked along in front of our house on the sand dunes and sat on a barbecue seat opposite Grove Avenue.”

The accused saw police approaching and tried to make a getaway in the sand dunes along Marine Parade.

'They couldn't find him and I thought that was it - all over.

'Next minute the dog handler arrived at our place and I put him onto the track of the alleged offender and the dog picked up a little bit of a scent.”

As the dog got closer the suspect, Jim says the scent got stronger and stronger.

'Next minute we heard this scream and the dog handler yelling ‘get him, get him' and that was opposite Sutherland Street and we could hear them from our place.

The alleged offender was taken to Tauranga Hospital with a puncture to the main artery of his arm, says Jim.

'He was bleeding really badly, so they whipped him to hospital.”

If the man had been allowed to get away with the car, filled with other stolen items, Jim believes he would have lost around $40,000.