A 64-year-old man has told how he chased two home intruders despite suffering head injuries after being attacked.
The man, who did not wish to be identified, was awoken at his Papakura home by suspicious noises, and rose to find two people ransacking his freezer.
The intruders threw a frozen
can at the man, causing a deep gash above his left eye, before running out of the house and across his yard.
The homeowner chased them armed with a metal earth screw but the pair escaped down nearby railway tracks.
However, the pair returned a short while later, throwing a brick at the man's head.
But despite his injury and being outnumbered, the man ran them out again.
The Australian, who moved to New Zealand 17 years ago, said he could have got the intruders but for his bad hips and knees.
"I went to chase him, but I was almost hopping ... one hip had gone out on me," he said yesterday. "I want them caught."
The man described one intruder as a male Maori or Pacific Islander, aged about 20 to 22 years, of medium build and about 1.82m tall. The second man was similar in appearance, but a much smaller build.
The homeowner - whose father passed away on Monday - was taken to Middlemore Hospital and discharged himself yesterday after receiving about a dozen stitches to his injury.
Senior Sergeant Richard Wilkie said police generally discouraged people from confronting intruders.
"But we certainly don't want to criticise him for doing what he thought at the time was the right thing," he said.
Mr Wilkie said victims of home invasions should remember as many details as possible, keep safe and comply with every direction given.
Anyone with information about the intrusion should contact the Counties Manukau Crime Squad on (09) 295 0200.
