KEY POINTS:
A policeman at Christchurch's suburban Papanui police station has a fair bit of television to watch over the next week.
Senior Constable John McIntyre has to get through 35 security tapes from service stations that have been the victims of petrol drive-off thefts over the last five months.
He said he was watching the tapes to look for cars, number plates, and drivers involved in the thefts.
He said he expected that in a week's time, when his video marathon ends, more charges would be laid.
A man who has been arrested and charged with one of the petrol thefts appeared in the Christchurch District Court today.
Shane George Whittaker, 45 and unemployed, was charged with theft of $100 of petrol from an Aranui service station on Wednesday. He also faces a charge of assaulting someone as he allegedly got away after a theft.
Judge John Bisphan remanded him for a week and ordered that he be held in custody.
Mr McIntyre is checking the tapes to identify the driver or drivers involved. They appeared to be using three registration plates and swapping them on to four or five cars.
The videos showed the thief would fill the car and then fill three or four 20 litre containers with petrol before driving off. He believed these would then be sold.
- NZPA
