KEY POINTS:
A police dog about to go into retirement helped in the arrest of four burglars and car thieves in Auckland yesterday.
The four had broken into a liquor store at the corner of St Vincent Ave and Remuera Rd about 1am.
At 1.30am, they were seen in a stolen station wagon by police dog Aster's handler, Constable Kelvin Roberts. The vehicle had earlier been taken from Kelston.
The vehicle sped off as Mr Roberts tried to speak to the driver. After a short chase, the station wagon went over spikes laid on Remuera Rd and was dumped nearby.
Aster and Mr Roberts were close enough behind the slowing vehicle to stop the four offenders and hold them until other police units arrived.
Inspector Ian Brooker, of the Auckland Central police station, praised the actions of the pair. He said the combination of good intuition in spotting the group and the effective deployment of the dog had led to a copybook apprehension.
Police had been unaware of the smash-and-grab at the liquor store.
It was only when unopened bottles of spirits were found in the stolen car that they suspected they had come from a burglary.
The smash-and-grab was discovered by the same dog unit during follow-up patrols.
Aster is retiring from the police dog service this week.
- NZPA
