Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police caught up with the 16-year-old on Friday at 6.30pm after he allegedly committed two burglaries earlier in the week.
Between Monday night and Tuesday morning last week, the teenager broke into Gardens New World in North Rd, North East Valley.
He allegedly attempted to prise open the store doors, went into the business’ loading bay and proceeded to knock things in the store over.
He went through a delivery truck and pushed a cardboard bale off the shelf and rummaged through a wheelie bin, Snr Sgt Bond said.
The teenager then left and went to the nearby Dunedin North Intermediate School at about 1am where he again broke in.
He then "basically made a mess inside the building", trashing classrooms and leaving things strewn around the buildings, including books from inside the library, which were left all over the place, Snr Sgt Bond said.
The teenager was charged with two counts of burglary and will appear in Dunedin District Court at a later date.
