Store owner chases thieves for 70km

A Taranaki store owner will have $26,000 worth of stolen mowers returned after he chased thieves for 70km while on the phone to police.

On Sunday night Mike Seaver found his Hawera shop, Seaver Cycles and Motors, had been burgled and called the cops, the Taranaki Daily News reported.

But that night he couldn't sleep, harbouring suspicions the burglars lived near the shop, finally getting up about 6am and going for a drive.

"I came up behind a Subaru hatchback with what looked like collapsed mower boxes in the back. There were two young people in the car and I think they must have been moving the boxes to somewhere they could be burned."

He chased the car to Normanby until it reversed into him and police suggested he back-off.

"It wasn't a high-speed chase, but it was a bit nerve-wracking," Mr Seaver said.

Police later executed a search warrant at a Hawera house and found the 26 stolen mowers.

- NZPA