Chopper and dogs used to track down prolific burglar

File photo / NZ Herald

Police dogs and the Eagle helicopter have come to the aid of Avondale Police who arrested a prolific burglar in Point Chevalier this afternoon.

Sergeant Russell Richards said police dogs found the man, responsible for a number of burglaries around the Pt Chevalier and Mt Albert areas, at a Riro St address around 1pm.

He said it was a "very good result".

"He's a known burglar who has been targeting a number of places both residential and commercial."

"He's been wanted for some time. He knows we've been looking for him."

Sergeant Richards said the man was spotted a few days ago, but ran into the bush behind the Point Chevalier shops and got away.

"Today he was seen in the Point Chevalier shopping centre, he was on a bicycle that had been taken in a burglary. There was a number of warrants and forensic hits out for him for burglaries, he had broken into a car earlier today. He was spotted, he was chased and he did the same thing again and disappeared."

This time he was not so lucky.

"We had a number of police cordon the area off, we had the police helicopter and he was subsequently located and arrested and he will be interviewed in relation to a number of burglaries in the area."

Another man was arrested today after he was caught breaking in cars near the Auckland Zoo in Western Springs by zoo security.