KEY POINTS:
A 43-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of stealing thousands of dollars from a Canadian family's hotel room after allegedly tricking staff into letting him in.
The unemployed man will appear in the Auckland District Court this afternoon. He was arrested this morning after being discharged from Middlemore Hospital where he was undergoing surgery.
The conman allegedly tricked staff at the Quay West hotel into letting him into the suite of the Black family from Montreal, by pretending to be drunk.
He then allegedly stole belongings worth an estimated $15,000 and ordered food and wine at their expense on Saturday night.
Yesterday, police recovered some of the Canadian tourists' property but police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said no further belongings had been found and the family were due to leave the country this afternoon.
Mr Black yesterday told the Herald the family hadn't expected to get anything back so got their hopes up when police called to say they had recovered some items.
"We got our hopes dashed. There was very little there, less than 1 per cent of our stuff, and I highly doubt we'll get anything more back," Mr Black said.
The most valuable item recovered was an old Palm Pilot which contained contact lists and schedules but other personal possessions, such as photographs of his wife Evelyn's dead brother, were still missing.
Her brother died when she was 12 and she carried photos of him everywhere.
Mr Black said police found the bag at a homeless shelter. "It had been in a pouch in the laptop bag but some items had been taken out and others put in ... it was very strange."
Police told him they couldn't tell him how the man came to be in hospital. "I hope they get a chance to talk to him and find out what happened to him - and our belongings."
The family spoke to Quay West management yesterday but insisted they had no intention of exploiting the situation. "We're not looking to make anything of this, we just want to have the costs we've incurred covered," Mr Black said.
He estimated the theft cost the family $15,000.
Quay West have so far declined to comment on the case.
