Dunedin police are warning inner-city residents to be vigilant, after a spate of burglaries.
In the most recent incident, a couple in Albany St were woken by an intruder early on Saturday.
''The occupants disturbed and confronted the offender, who told them he was there to steal property. He then took off, but they didn't report it until this week,'' Senior Sergeant Kelvin Lloyd said yesterday.
''Any suspicious behaviour should be reported to us. We need to know about that stuff as soon as possible. If anyone ever disturbs an intruder, we'll have someone there straight away.''
Police had been investigating a spate of inner-city burglaries since the start of the year.
''We believe there is an active offender, or a number of offenders, involved in burglaries in the Cargill St, York Pl, Stuart St area,'' Snr Sgt Lloyd said.
''We've tracked this cluster of offences back to the start of January. There have been at least six burglaries and multiple suspicious person reports.''
Items being targeted in the burglaries included mobile phones, laptop computers, jewellery and clothing. Police dogs were called after a person was seen acting suspiciously in Cargill St and was challenged by a police patrol at 12.20am yesterday.
''The dogs were unable to locate him. He was last seen going over a fence.''
The person of interest was described as ''a lanky person, with a black hoody and black and green board shorts''.
