Woman faces 11 shoplifting charges after nationwide crime spree ends in Dunedin

A woman who allegedly went on a four-month crime spree stealing more than $7000 of products from supermarkets, homeware stores and petrol stations throughout New Zealand is facing nearly a dozen shoplifting charges.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said at 2.30pm yesterday, police were called to Dunedin’s Mitre 10 Mega after a 30-year-old woman attempted to leave the store with $2200 of items without paying.

The woman was stopped by the store detective and gave a false name to the staff, Bond said.

“When police attended, she also gave a false name, but then admitted it was false and provided her real name.”

The woman was known to police, he said.

Police inquiries revealed she was wanted for 10 other shoplifting matters between April and July, totalling $7526.46 in pilfered goods.

Alongside the $2200 theft from Mitre 10, the woman’s shoplifting spree included:

• On June 29, $1637.27 of items were stolen from Mosgiel New World.
• The woman returned to the same New World on July 15, and stole $287.96 of items. Both incidents involved the woman leaving the store with a trolley full of groceries, Bond said.
• On May 28, $305.89 of groceries were stolen from Fresh Choice Roslyn; the woman returned the next day and took a further $84.76 of items. The woman went for a hat-trick, returning to the store for a third consecutive day, this time stealing $906.22 of items.
• On May 30, $312 of items were stolen from Dunedin Bunnings.
• On June 1, the woman stole a vacuum cleaner worth $45 from Z Green Island. “I’m not sure how that came about,” said Bond.
• On June 12, $500 of items were stolen from a New World in Auckland.
• On June 13, $397.38 of items were stolen from a Warehouse in Auckland.
• On April 30th, $849.98 of items were stolen from The Warehouse, South Dunedin.

The woman was due to appear in the Dunedin District Court today on 11 shoplifting charges.

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald based in Dunedin