A "pair of boneheads" fell into the police's lap this week after their car ran out of petrol metres from a burglary in Whangarei.
Police saw the light side of the crime, posting on social media that sometimes they have to work hard to solve a crime but not so on this occasion.
"A house on Whareora Rd, Whangarei had a brick launched through the window by a pair of boneheads, taking the TV, the homeowners supply of homebrew and a CCTV camera.
"What they forgot to do was check how much fuel they had in their vehicle, we found them high-tailing it away from their vehicle just down the road from the burglary," said the posting on the Northland Police Facebook page.
In a statement, police said they received a call from a member of the public advising that his property was being burgled on Monday.
The owner had a CCTV security system installed that alerted him when someone entered the property.
The alleged offenders fled the property in a vehicle, which ran out of petrol a short distance from the house. They left on foot, but were quickly identified from the CCTV footage.
An 18-year-old man and 23-year-old man will appear in the Whangarei District Court on Wednesday on a charge of burglary.
