Dogs sniff out alleged burglar

A man is facing charges over theft and indecent assault after police dogs tracked him down. Photo / APN

A man who allegedly broke into three houses while the occupants, including children, were asleep, was tracked by police dogs for more than 4km to his home.

The man, a 35-year-old contractor, was charged with entering three properties, indecently assaulting one woman and assaulting another in the Auckland suburb of Avondale last Saturday morning.

Police alleged the man broke in through a second-storey balcony at an apartment in Lyon Ave about 2am. Three women were asleep in the house at the time.

The alleged offender was charged with indecent assault and assault after two women woke to find him in the flat.

Police said he got away with a car, house keys and electrical items, including cameras which had been lying in the women's bedrooms.

He then allegedly attempted to break into a house on Sadgrove Terrace 2km away.

Resident Dave Wood heard someone trying to get into his house about 3am.

"I heard him trying the front door. Then he went around the corner and tripped the sensor light.

"When we noticed him on our property we called the police and they sent the dogs out after him," Wood said.

"They lost him but they got a call a little while later from a house around the corner. They tracked him from there to his house."