'I don't care if I go to jail'

DOB HIM IN: The signature left by one of Sunday night's burglars, now bound for Facebook.

If Kaitaia cafe owner Jenny Petera has a wish for the the people who burgled her business on Sunday night it is that the police find them before she does.

"They will need more than a sticking plaster if I find them," she said.

"I don't care if I go to jail. I won't have to worry about opening a business every day, there'll be no glass to vacuum up and no bills to pay."

The burglary of Birdie's Cafe, in Kaitaia's main street, was the sixth or seventh in 15 months, Mrs Petera said. In the past the intruders had smashed the front door; this time they went in through the side door, smashing one pane of glass, then another, presumably having encountered a deadlock.

They were caught on CCTV but apparently knew where the sensors were, so had presumably been there before. They took a quantity of alcohol, which they put in a knapsack, while one of them left graffiti identifying himself as a member of the Killer Bees.

Mrs Petera said she planned to place the graffiti on Facebook, and offer a reward to anyone who could identify the signature's owner.

Her faith in the police was also tested. The burglary was committed at around 10pm, and when she phoned police communications at around 10.20 she was told that someone would be dispatched (the police station is about 150 metres away). Two hours later she phoned again, and was told someone would arrive next day, when it was daylight.

"How important am I?" she asked yesterday. "We keep getting burgled and the police won't even come. My son drove around town last night looking for these people, but the police probably know them by name.

"They told me not to touch anything. I told them I had a business to open at 8am, and asked if anyone would be there before then. They said no. I'm enjoying my day off immensely.

"I'm just about ready to walk away from all this," she added.

"I'm slogging my guts out seven days a week, someone does this for $30 worth of booze and no one wants to know. They laugh at us stupid, hard-working people."

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The police officers on duty in Kaitaia on Sunday night were attending to a potentially violent incident an hour's drive from Kaitaia. Editor.