'Brazen' burglars strike while family sleeps

A Whangarei family was robbed while they slept by a "brazen and opportunistic" thief who took two smartphones, car keys and a wallet.

A Whangarei woman whose living room was burgled while her husband dozed on the couch says the crime shows how "brazen and opportunistic" some thieves are.

The burglar, or burglars, then went on a spending spree with the stolen credit and debit cards overnight on Wednesday.

The Kensington woman, who does not want to be named, had gone to bed early, as had her 11-year-old son, while her husband was having a beer with a nephew and another friend.

This gentle-natured Wheaten Terrier may have a loud bark, but his presence wasn't enough to put off a burglar who robbed his Kensington family on Wednesday night.

Just before 11pm, she was woken by her dog barking, who was out the back of her property near the fence. She put him to bed inside, before locking the doors, including the living room sliding door, left open about 5m from where her husband was dozing on the couch, so the dog could come in and out.

But minutes before, a burglar had been in the same room, stealing two smartphones, the house keys, car keys and her husband's wallet.

"People are that brazen and opportunistic, that they will brave a dog, jump over a [1.5m] fence, and walk past a sleeping man on the couch and steal your stuff," she said.

While the Irish Wheaten Terrier had a loud bark, he would not attack a person, the woman said.

"But he wasn't happy."

It was not until the couple woke up yesterday morning and tried to find their phones that they realised they had been burgled.

"I was like 'oh God, I think someone has been in here last night' ... It really started to sink in," the woman said.

Between 11pm and 7am the burglars had used the couple's debit and credit cards' PayWave functions to spend more than $200 across four service stations. They had also topped up cellphones, and spent $450 online at Footlocker, an American sneaker retailer.

Yesterday, the woman was working with police who she said had been "amazing". She was hoping CCTV and the delivery address for the sneakers could be used to identify the burglars.

"I think its someone young and not very clever," she said.

"I'd like to think they'll get caught but at this time of the year there is so much stuff happening."

The burglary had left her "very angry and frustrated", as the family were now lumbered with an insurance excess, having to get locks changed, and replacing all the cards in the wallet.

"It's frigging inconvenient and creepy," she said.

"I mean it would be understandable if we'd gone out and left the door open, that would be silly. But you should be able to fall asleep in front of the TV."

Police said they had not had reports of any other burglaries in the area in the same time period.