Man in court over stolen vehicles

File photo / NZ Herald

A man appeared in court today charged with burglary and unlawfully taking two vehicles in west Auckland, which may be connected to an arson attack on a residential property.

The 40-year-old man appeared in Waitakere District Court and was remanded in custody to reappear on January 20.

Police told NZPA the man lived at a Lincoln Park Avenue unit in Massey, which was deliberately set on fire at 5.45am yesterday.

Earlier in the morning two stolen vehicles were recovered in the area but police could not confirm if they were connected to the fire.

They were a dark grey 1993 Nissan Laurel registered number XH 3532, and a white 1994 Toyota Trueno registered number ZU 5691.

It was initially feared that two people may have been trapped inside the house when firefighters arrived at the scene, but a search established the property was empty.

An examination found there were likely to have been at least two seats of fire, but fire safety officer Neville Trevarton could not comment about what was used to start the fire as it was subject to a police investigation.

Detective Sergeant Peter Litherland said although no one was home at the time, most people were usually asleep at that time of the day and police could easily have been looking at a homicide.

He said police wanted to speak to anyone living near Lincoln Park Ave who saw any suspicious activity before the fire or may have seen any vehicles leaving the scene.

"We're still appealing for anyone to come forward with information. Obviously someone has gone to a fair bit of trouble to try and burn the place down. We think they've taken accelerant to the scene so we're appealing to anyone who may have seen some suspicious behaviour shortly after 5am yesterday," Mr Litherland said.

He said the unit was not a drugs house or a P lab, nor was there a gang involvement.

The property was a Housing New Zealand house and there was only one lawful occupant who has care of two children, Mr Litherland added.

- NZPA