Patient watchers trap panties thief

When dozens of items of underwear vanished from his mother's Dunedin clothesline, Nick Reeves decided to take the matter into his own hands.

Mr Reeves said about 60 pairs of panties had gone since the beginning of the year, with hundreds more reportedly taken from clotheslines around the neighbourhood in the suburb of Abbotsford.

"It was getting quite disturbing ... and mum was getting a bit worried," he said.

Police were alerted and a camera was set up on the property in an attempt to catch the thief.

However, with panties still disappearing, Mr Reeves decided to spend the odd night watching the clothesline.

The family even rigged up their own security system - cotton thread - around the perimeter of the property, and kept records of what underwear was on the line.

To tempt the prowler, women's underwear was left on the line overnight as Mr Reeves kept watch from inside his mother's house.

"It was like Murphy's law - when I wasn't at the house, more pairs would go missing," he said.

But after several fruitless nights, he decided to spend the night hidden in a nearby rhododendron bush, with his brother-in-law behind nearby ferns.

After watching for almost six hours, they decided at daybreak to move inside the house. Soon after, Mr Reeves saw a man taking items from the line.

They then watched him enter the neighbour's property.

They yelled at him and he took off, throwing panties away as he ran. The two men gave chase, catching him almost 1km away.

"He was pretty embarrassed."

Mr Reeves said the subsequent arrest had brought relief to his mother and the community.

A 38-year-old Dunedin man will appear in the Dunedin District Court tomorrow on two burglary charges.

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES