Brazen burglars quick to reap rewards

Wendy McCracken (left) and Brittany Eriksen were home when their flat was burgled. Photo / Sarah Ivey

It took only 10 minutes for burglars to break into an Auckland student flat and make off with laptops, a handbag and other goods - as one of the young, female tenants showered and the other two slept.

And it took less than an hour for the thieves to make six transactions, racking up hundreds of dollars on one of their credit cards.

But the students were told by their bank, that it would be unable to check where the transactions had been made until today.

The women had hoped to acquire immediate CCTV footage of the offenders at the various locations or to visit the spots to ask people if they had seen anything suspicious.

They also phoned police but were told they would be unable to get to the house to fingerprint the window until tomorrow. The police phoned again yesterday to say they would arrive this morning.

Wendy McCracken, Brittany Eriksen and Danielle Hendrick, all 20, were at their King St flat in Kingsland on Saturday morning when the drama unfolded.

Miss Hendrick decided to have a shower at around 7.30am.

About 10 minutes later, wrapped in a towel, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked into her bedroom where she discovered her laptop, a new cellphone and handbag - which had her wallet and house keys inside - missing.

Miss Eriksen's laptop, which had school assignments and photos stored, was also missing from the lounge.

"I stripped my bed - even though I knew I'd left them on there - but they weren't there," Miss Hendrick said. "I ran into Wendy's room and was like 'Oh my God, I think we've been burgled.

"I was actually petrified. We went into the lounge and saw a screwdriver mark on the window - I was terrified they might still be in the house."

The friends believe the burglars may have watched Miss Hendrick walk into the bathroom, before rummaging through the house, and leaving when they heard the shower turn off.

She phoned the bank to cancel her eftpos and credit cards straight away but it was too late. In less than an hour the burglars had made six transactions of around $42 each, at different places.

Miss McCracken, who was half asleep at the time of the burglary, said she heard muffled voices around the time but did not think anything of it, given their neighbours lived so close.