Source: Radio New Zealand
Some Christmas presents will not even get near a tree if left in the car, say police. File photo. 123rf
An Auckland man whose Christmas presents were stolen from his car on a quiet street is warning others not to repeat his mistake.
Police and the AA say opportunistic thieves are breaking into cars more frequently during the Christmas period.
Jeremy Rees, an RNZ staff member in Auckland, had packed his car full of gifts when he decided to visit a friend.
“Everyone had handed over presents and we had a couple of bags full of presents sitting in the back of the car,” he said.
“I decided it would be great to go round and see a friend, drop of some presents and say hello. My wife said to me ‘are you sure we should be taking this car?’ I said ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine’.
“I think it was only 20 minutes outside their house, a very quiet street, it was light out, we came out and my wife pointed out that someone had smashed the rear window, reached in and grabbed the presents and headed away.
“It was a shock, it was a shock partly because of the Christmas presents and partly because my wife had been telling me ‘don’t do that’.”
AA Insurance head of motor claims Beau Paparoa said roadside staff were responding to smashed windows more often.
“We definitely see car break-ins starting to occur a lot more around this time of year. We’re often hearing from customers and some of our roadside teams that there’s definitely a bit more opportunistic theft happening,” he said.
“We’re putting that down to it being a busy time of year, everyone’s out doing their Christmas shopping and there’s that much more presence of gifts and valuables being visible in the car.”
He encouraged people to be careful and make sure valuables were hidden from view.
“In terms of any valuables, if you’ve done some Christmas shopping or if generally you’ve got valuables in your car try and keep them locked away our out of sight, in your boot if you can,” he said.
“Where you’re parking is possibly a good thing to think about. if you can afford to, don’t park on the street, but if you have to park on street make sure you park in well-lit areas.”
In a statement, police said it was not uncommon for Christmas presents to be stolen.
“The key is to remove any opportunity, this includes taking valuables or documents out of vehicles wherever possible,” a spokesperson said.
Rees said he wished he had followed that advice.
“I feel a bit stupid to be absolutely honest, I read all of the things from police saying ‘don’t do this, don’t pack your car, don’t just leave it on the street,’ and I did exactly the opposite and I paid the price.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand