Operation Bad Santa: Police donate presents to family of burglar and the family who originally had theirs stolen

Operation Bad Santa was likely named after a movie of the same name starring Billy Bob Thornton.

Auckland Police have donated Christmas presents to a family who had theirs stolen earlier this month, and the family of the burglar.

The alleged burglar was swiftly tracked down by police who found the regifted presents under the man's own tree. Police then unwrapped them in front of his family.

The man allegedly broke into the Hillcrest home on December 14 while the woman worked and her little boy was at daycare, the Herald on Sunday reported.

A 23-year-old man was due to appear in North Shore District Court charged with burglary after a solo mother had gifts intended for her son stolen.

Now, in an effort to make sure three children won't be left without any presents this Christmas, Auckland police officers stepped in to help.

"Police were swiftly able to track down the person responsible and recover some of the items and return them," a police statement said.

"Our officers also returned last night to deliver other presents to the boy, given not all of the stolen property was recovered."

The saga unfolded when the woman got a call from police in Mangere saying her passport had been handed in.

She initially thought they had made a mistake but the station was closed by the time she called them back.

When she got home she realised there was no error - she had been burgled.

"The curtains were closed and I had left them open, the front door was open and I just thought, 'I've been robbed'," she said.

"I walked into the house and noticed straight off that the TV was gone."

The burglar had ransacked the house, going through the woman's drawers and cupboards.

Wrapped Christmas presents were stolen from a cupboard as well as the bike she'd bought her son that was under the tree, and most of her jewellery.

"It was such a shock," she said.

"I couldn't believe someone had done this a week before Christmas.

"The presents weren't expensive, they were things that I'd been collecting - I'd been so organised and bought everything and wrapped it early.

"I was so upset that someone would do this."

Among the haul of stolen items was the woman's television, iPad, jewellery, alcohol and Christmas presents from under the tree.

"It's believed the 23-year-old allegedly responsible had intended to gift the stolen items to his own family for Christmas," the police statement said.

"Because police had to recover those items, the two children in his family had no presents to open on the special day. So our officers stepped in to help."

Police said gifts are often donated to them at Christmas for them to pass on to deserving families.

Officers decided to do something for the children of both families by delivering them a few presents as they became victims of the burglary.

"While we do not condone this man's actions, we were there for the kids who have no control over how adults behave and wanted to give them a little cheer this Christmas," Detective Sergeant Brett Shields said.