A Northland father whose son was captured on CCTV burgling a service station marched him in to the shop to confess then called the police.
The break-in occurred at Kaeo BP about 8pm on Monday evening. Security footage, which has been shared on social media, shows two boys aged about 13 trying to use a plank or a strip of metal to prise open a window. When that failed they smashed the glass instead.
Both are wearing hoodies and one has part of his face covered but they are still identifiable. They ran off with sunglasses, chocolate and lollies.
The head of Mid North police, Senior Sergeant Brian Swann, said security footage showed the boys waiting across the road until a tanker had finished delivering fuel, then breaking in to the service station. The burglar alarm sounded but the boys only jumped out another window and ran away when the owner arrived.
The following day the first boy was marched in to the service station by his father, who had been alerted by an acquaintance who had seen the CCTV footage.
The father then phoned police.
The second boy was identified later that day. Both had been referred to Youth Aid and police were looking at making the boys pay for the damage they had caused.
Mr Swann commended the father for making his son face up to his actions and hopefully steering him away from a path of crime.
"Parents often know when their kids have been up to no good. In this case the parents have held them accountable and brought them to the attention of the business owner and the police, helping prevent further offences in future."
Teulon Kingston, who co-owns the business with his wife Teresa, said they were grateful for the support and offers of help they had received from the Kaeo-Whangaroa community after the break-in. He also thanked the boy's father.
Meanwhile, family members in Doubtless Bay handed a 16-year-old to police after he allegedly tried to run over a neighbour who was investigating suspicious activity on Saturday.
The neighbour had to jump on the bonnet of the stolen car to avoid being run over, fracturing a rib when he hit the windscreen.
The man and his father then chased the teen and his 17-year-old companion, who crashed the car on Hihi Rd and stole a pair of kayaks, the 17-year-old paddling to Mangonui, the younger boy to Butler Pt.
He was spotted by a local resident as he was returning to the Hihi address where he was staying so ran back to the kayak, paddled to the Butler Pt jetty, then swam across the harbour to Mangonui.
The 17-year-old was picked up in Cooper's Beach by a police dog handler and admitted all charges, as did the 16-year-old when he was delivered to police the next morning.
The older youth is due in the Kaitaia District Court tomorrow while his co-offender has been referred to Youth Aid on charges of unlawfully taking a vehicle, burglary, possession of utensils for burglary, theft and assault with a weapon.
In March a Kaikohe grandmother reported her own mokopuna after recognising him in CCTV footage of a group of rampaging youths trying to smash their way into a service station in the town.
-The Northern Advocate
