A would-be thief ran off bare-chested into the frosty night after being disturbed in a Cromwell home's garage this week, police say.
The young man was found in the garage at 11pm on Wednesday night and was wearing the homeowner's motorcycle jacket, had property stacked up and appeared to be about to steal the motorcycle from the garage, Detective Gary Hyndman said yesterday.
"The homeowner detained him for a while but then the man ran off shirtless into the frosty night, leaving behind the jacket and his own shirt," Det Hyndman said.
Police were still investigating, but believed the matter was linked to another incident earlier that evening, when two motor vehicles were broken into.
A 19-year-old Cromwell youth would appear in the Alexandra District Court next week on two counts of unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle, Det Hyndman said. Police were still searching for two people believed to be co-offenders.
Windows were allegedly smashed to gain entry to a van parked by the Big Fruit sculpture and a car in the mall car-park. A computer and a wallet were among items taken from the locked vehicles. All had been retrieved, apart from the computer hard drive, he said.
