Hamilton Police are crediting the value of following your instincts following the arrest of two cigarette burglars and the recovery of a stolen car early this morning.
Shift manager, Senior Sergeant Rupert Friend, said the arrests came about after a Police dog handler patrolling near the Base shopping centre noticed a vehicle acting suspiciously near the Te Rapa end of Te Kowhai Rd.
"The dog handler radioed in just after 1am that he had seen a Subaru car travelling towards him at speed and was going to check it out.
"The North Comms dispatcher advised him that only minutes earlier the owner of the Te Kowhai Dairy on SH39 had rang 111 and advised Police of a burglary in which offenders had unsuccessfully targeted a locked cigarette cabinet and made off with some tobacco and the shop's till."
Mr Friend said two males were seen fleeing the store and driving off in a Subaru car driven by a third person.
"The registration number of the car matched that of a Subaru stolen from the Base yesterday and another patrol car backing up the dog handler encountered the fleeing driver at the Boulevard.
"The driver tried to evade Police by driving over traffic islands causing a degree of damage to the underside of the Subaru before the car stopped and the occupants attempted to escape on foot."
Mr Friend said while one offender managed to escape the Police dog was able to account for two of the offenders including one who claimed to be the driver.
"Following their arrest two Ngaruawahia men, aged 16 and 22, are now being interviewed in relation to the theft of the car and the burglary and are receiving treatment for minor dog related injuries.
"There are two things of note that have come out of this incident. Firstly the timely notification by the victim to Police of what has happened, with a description that enabled us to respond in a timely manner. Secondly, while this was going on the dog handler saw something that didn't appear right and acted, resulting in the arrest of two offenders and the recovery of a stolen car."
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