Vet medals found in police raid

Commonwealth Games commemorative medals were among a haul of stolen goods recovered in police raids in Taranaki this week.

Officers executed search warrants at two Waitara addresses on Tuesday looking for items stolen in a recent spate of burglaries in the town.

A 41-year-old man has been arrested and charged with burglary.

He is due to appear in the New Plymouth District Court next week and police say more arrests are likely.

The recovered booty included a collection of sporting medals, an expensive push bike, two near new wakeboards, two lifejackets, a helmet, tow ropes and a canvas canopy, Sergeant Phil Quinn said.

He said the collection of seven medals were from different veterans’ games including the 1987 World Games in Melbourne and two Commonwealth Games commemorative medals from Auckland 1990.

Finding the medals was a surprise and they clearly didn’t belong where they were discovered, Quinn said.

‘‘It’s unusual, obviously the chap who had possession of them wasn’t a veteran marathon runner as he was only 41.

‘‘So it certainly raised our suspicions straight away because he didn’t look like an athlete.’’

Quinn said somebody must be missing the medals, which could have significant sentimental value, and police wanted to find the owners so they could be returned.

‘‘I would hope so, certainly if they belonged to me or one of my family, parents or something like that, you would certainly hold them as a family heirloom.

‘‘So it would be nice to think that they are cherished by someone and we can reunite them with the rightful owners,’’ he said.

Quinn said while police had located the owner of the $3500 push bike and it would be returned they were still looking to find the owner of the wakeboards and gear. ‘‘Police would like people who wakeboard to check their equipment. We seized two wakeboards and various accessories that are near new.

‘‘Its most likely the equipment won’t be missed until the weather warms up and conditions improve for water skiing.’’

Quinn said police were pleased with the result of the raids but were still looking for the offenders who broke into the town’s rugby league and rowing clubs recently, making off with two outboard motors, tools and sports bags and playing uniforms.

‘‘It’s good to be able to recover stolen property but we still have these outstanding burglaries at the sports clubs and we are still in the hunt for that stuff,’’ Quinn said.

- Anyone with information about the burglaries or the stolen items are encouraged to contact the Waitara police station or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.