Police call for help on "sickening" attack

Tauranga policeman, Rob Lemoto.

A Tauranga detective "sickened" by an attack on an elderly woman is calling on for help from the public.

Detective Sergeant Robert Lemoto, has called on anyone with information relating to a Greerton burglary at the weekend to contact police.

A man broke into a home in the Fraser Street, Chadwick Road, Pemberton Park area of Greerton between 11.30pm on Saturday, January 11 and 1am Sunday, January 12.

The offender is described as being a young male Maori, about 165cm or 5'5 in height, thin to medium build wearing a dark coloured hooded top and pants.

Detective Sergeant Lemoto said the man broke into the victim's home address while she was awake and confronted her inside the address before running away.

Mr Lemoto said the behaviour of the offender sickens him and that the actions of the victim are to be commended.

"She has been confronted by an offender in her own home. This is a horrible scenario for any person but especially so for an 84-year-old female in the address on her own at the time.

"She has been very brave in initially standing up to him before seeing him off from her address. She has secured herself inside the address and then immediately called police."

Mr Lemoto said "someone out there will know who this person is and we are asking them to look inside themselves and assess their morals".

"If it was your grandmother or mother who had this horrible experience you would want her to have some closure in knowing the offender was no longer at large and that he had been held to account?"

The victim has had great support from her family who have also taken steps to immediately upgrade security at her address. She received minor injuries as a result that thankfully did not require any medical attention.

Senior Sergeant Mark Pakes asked local residents to be aware of their home security, especially with warmer nights being a common feature this time of year. He has highlighted the increasing number of residents involved in Neighbourhood Support Groups as a positive preventative measure and encouraged residents who are not part of a group to contact the local co-ordinator at the Tauranga south police station.

If anyone has information that could help, please contact Tauranga south CIB on 578 3460 or, if they are wanting to remain anonymous, to pass the information on to police through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.