The Selwyn Times can reveal police have identified who they believe is the offender and spoken to him – but he is denying any involvement.
The burglaries relate to one in Burnham in early March where the elderly home owner surprised the offender and scuffled with him; and the other in Tai Tapu on Boxing Day.
The offender, tattooed and believed to be in his 50s, fled the Burnham scene in a distinctive white Mercedes Sprinter camper van. The same vehicle was used in the Tai Tapu burglary.
It was caught on CCTV leaving the scene. The homeowner’s vehicle was also stolen, meaning there was more than one offender at that burglary.
The van involved in the burglaries has been sighted numerous times at a social housing unit in Woolston.
Police continue to say little about the investigations, other than: “Inquiries are ongoing.”
But the Selwyn Times can reveal the suspect is well known to police and is associated with a person connected to the white Mercedes.
The Burnham victim said last month he was frustrated by the lack of police progress.
Since then, he has undergone a formal process of trying to identify the offender from mugshots.
Earlier he had been shown a mugshot of a suspect during a chance meeting with a police officer at Rolleston BP.
The victim told the Selwyn Times he did not know if an Up and Go drink he believes was left by the offender when he surprised him in his home had been forensically tested by police.
The victim said he found the drink container after police left his home following the break-in.
It was not his so could only have been left behind by the burglars when he surprised him.
He said he put it in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge until police picked it up.
He was hopeful a DNA test on the drink container might connect it to the suspect if the offender was on the police database.
But the victim said he was told cost could be a factor in whether the container was tested or not.
Police would not answer specific questions from the Selwyn Times about the Up and Go drink and whether it had or would be forensically tested.
