KEY POINTS:
A remorseful burglar has targeted a home near Queenstown for a third time - this time leaving $150 in cash under a rock to say sorry.
Home owner Graeme Glass found the cash metres from his front door when he returned to his Arthurs Point property.
Police offered to fingerprint the money but warned him that the process would leave it covered in purple ink and worthless. Mr Glass politely declined.
It was the third time his home had been targeted.
On August 28, he and wife Shirley returned home to find a window smashed and - bizarrely - a pile of their own property, plus gloves and a basketball they had never seen before, stacked neatly on their kitchen table.
An apologetic note explained how the thief had been overcome with remorse.
After stealing Mr Glass' $1200 laptop, camera and wallet, the burglar had returned the items later the same day - as well as purchases made using Mr Glass's American Express credit card.
The thief even promised to leave cash to pay for the damaged window "when I have enough money".
Yesterday, Mr Glass said the behaviour was "a bit freaky really".
"He's obviously somewhere around, not too far away."
The cash would "certainly cover" the $100 insurance excess paid to replace the window, but the thief's third visit to the home had left the couple pondering their own safety, Mr Glass said.
"I think my wife is a bit worried about it. It's pretty odd," he said.
Detective Constable Lisa Scott said police inquiries were continuing despite the thief's efforts to make amends.
She said fingerprinting the cash would be of "no evidential value" unless a suspect was already identified. "Money gets touched by all sorts of people all day."
Police were examining security footage from Queenstown stores in the hope of identifying someone carrying the distinctive Nike basketball left at Mr Glass' home, Ms Scott said.
Shop staff had already described a slim male in his late teens or early 20s with blond shoulder-length hair.
-Otago Daily Times
