Tradies’ tools targeted
Thieves are continuing to hammer construction sites around Taranaki stealing tools which are likely being sold outside of the region, police say.
Overnight on Friday burglars broke into a shipping container owned by Pzazz Building at a site on New Plymouth’s Dean Pl and made off with thousands of dollars worth of equipment.
Pzazz Building owner Isiah Reynolds said the thieves made off with about $8000 in gear, including drop-saws, nail guns, grinders and line levels. ‘‘They knew what they were taking and they knew what was of value,’’ he said.
The culprits also broke into the building under construction and searched it for anything of value.
Reynolds, who has been in business for three years and employs six staff, said it would have taken more than one person to move the equipment and they would’ve needed a vehicle to transport it.
‘‘It’s annoying, it’s really annoying.’’
A wheelie bin was also missing from the site and Reynolds believed the thieves could have used it to shift the stolen items.
Two weeks ago Concrete Construction, Bell Block, was targeted with two power floats valued about $4500 each stolen.
The break-ins come on the back of a spate of thefts from construction sites around North Taranaki in recent months, Sergeant Ross Wright said.
‘‘We have had a number of thefts of tools over the past couple of months,’’ Wright said.
He said builders’ vehicles were also being broken into and police believed the tools could be headed out of the region and sold. ‘‘It is a possibility. They have got tools that are highly sought after.’’
Wright encouraged builders to mark their tools, record serial numbers and, where possible, park their vehicles off the road or out of sight. Paul Hagenson, of Concrete Construction, said his yard in Henwood Rd, Bell Block, was hit during the weekend of September 9 and 10.
Hagenson said the gear was specialised equipment that would have required a vehicle to move it.
‘‘Yeah definitely, they would have had to have a truck or trailer.’’
He believed the thefts were being carried out to fund drug habits. Logan Korff, of Korff Builders, lost $16,000 in tools from a site in July and said he knew of at least four other builders who had been hit, including one who was burgled twice.
‘‘It’s pretty horrible, considering you have to work with your tools and if you don’t have them you can’t work,’’ Korff said.
He said he’d been told by police the gear was being targeted by criminal groups from out of town.
‘‘They said most of it was heading outside of the region.
‘‘The tools that they are stealing are set up for the trade, so a tradie would have to buy them.
‘‘You can’t really sell them around here because everyone looks online but there’s a big construction boom in Auckland. I’m guessing it’s all going up there and being sold.’’
Meanwhile Wright said a warrant for the arrest of Robert Tutaki Kemp, 33, of Waitara had been issued in relation to a burglary in Bell Block on September 5.
Wright said police raided Kemp’s Waitara address on Friday but he wasn’t located.
Kemp had strong links to Auckland and the Hawkes Bay, he said.
Police also warned the number of trailers being stolen from driveways and residential properties around New Plymouth was on the rise and urged owners to take measures to secure them.
Anyone with information about the burglaries or Kemp’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact their nearest police station or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.