Police Notebook: Stolen cars and bikes, teen offenders, burglaries

The following are incidents reported to Rotorua police during the past few days.

* A hairdressing salon on Tutanekai St was broken into overnight on Friday. The front window was smashed and hair products were stolen.

Rotorua police crime prevention manager Inspector Stuart Nightingale said police wanted to hear from members of the public who had been offered cheap hair products.

* Police have arrested a man for several petrol thefts after he was allegedly found in a car with two different stolen number plates.

Mr Nightingale said police spotted the man and the different plates and made the arrest.

* Bikes have been hot commodities in the Victoria and Koutu suburbs in Rotorua over the weekend. Two bikes were taken from the Victoria area and two from Koutu.

Mr Nightingale said residents needed to make sure they kept bikes out of sight and locked up.

"Leave garage doors down, and don't leave bikes lying around or leaning up against the side of the house."

* Several vehicles were stolen in Rotorua over the weekend, including the following:

A 2002 white Mazda Bounty registered AWP404 was taken from Ford Rd, a red Honda CV650 road bike registered 21HAM was taken from a car park on Holden's Ave in Holden's Bay and a grey 1992 Toyota Corolla registered R19683 was taken from Kaingaroa Forest.

* A man has been arrested for stealing a laptop after the owner traced it electronically to a local house.

Mr Nightingale said the owner told police where they thought the laptop was on Saturday night and police paid the house a visit and found the laptop.

* There were eight thefts from cars at the weekend, including on Manuka Cres, Arawa St and from the Waiotapu Tavern. From the tavern, a Kathmandu puffer jacket, Macpac waterproof jacket and a Camelbak back pack were taken.

* Police warn that a group of teens have been committing crime in the central city and outlying areas recently.

Mr Nightingale said the teens were active committing burglaries, stealing bikes and stealing cars.

"If you see young people hanging around in groups, let us know. There isn't usually a good reason why groups of three to four young teenagers are in a car together. If you see that, give us a ring."