Home scare as burglars cut power

A Rotorua couple is warning others after would-be burglars broke into their exterior switchboard in the early hours of yesterday morning, cutting the power to their home.

The man and woman, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons, were sleeping at their Pomare home when they heard what they thought was an “aggressive” knock about 1.30am.

The woman told the Rotorua Daily

Post she “remained in bed scared . . . and froze when a torch flickered around the bedrooms from outside” while her partner was inside the home walking towards the front door.

From this point, they suspected the visitor was an “opportunist burglar” and sounded their security alarm, which ran on separate batteries.

When the woman rang the police, she also noticed her wi-fi wasn’t working, and her partner noticed the lights were not either.

They later discovered their exterior switchboard had been broken into and the power turned off and made a second call to police.

The pair could not sleep for the rest of the night and spoke to the Rotorua

Daily Post about midday, sharing their words of warning for other residents.

“The security lights are not going to deter burglars if they can turn off the main power.”

The couple were now on the hunt for rechargeable security lights or solar panel lights. The couple said there were three cars in their driveway, and suspected the banging on the door was actually “an attempt to check if anyone got up in response”.

Police said yesterday no arrests had been made.