NZ Police CommCens Alert 10:00 18-07-2006 Auckland City
Location of incident: Auckland City and Manukau
Incident Type: Bad day to be a car thief in Auckland
Auckland police have had a frantic day apprehending car thieves today, with 10 offenders arrested in 90 minutes following pursuits on foot and by car, and assisted the whole time by the Police Eagle helicopter.
The action began at around 10am with a service station attendant calling 111 to say a car that had been filled up at a petrol station looked suspicious due its lack of an ignition barrel.
Police quickly established the car was stolen, and all units were alerted. The car was soon spotted in Glen Innes and three offenders were apprehended after being surrounded by police, with Eagle overseeing the pursuit from the air.
Next, checks on a car with a faulty wheel that failed to stop for police revealed that this too was stolen, and two offenders were arrested after abandoning the car in Onehunga and being pursued on foot by a police dog handler, again with Eagle guiding the pursuit.
On to Avondale, where a police officer spotted a stolen vehicle at a petrol station that had been alerted to all units earlier on. The offenders abandoned the vehicle and were soon arrested after being located a short distance from the scene.
Meanwhile in South Auckland, a stolen car was also spotted by police and after a 30 minute pursuit in a 100km speed zone, the three offenders were apprehended when the vehicle was spiked at Clevedon.
Police Northern Communications Shift Commander Inspector Gavin Macdonald said the arrests were a result of excellent police team work from the Northern Communications Centre right through to the frontline staff. "Its days like this when it feels good to be a police officer," Inspector Macdonald said.
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