Thieves target local pensioners' cars

Greerton pensioner Barbara Flutey's car was broken into by thieves who smashed the triangular, back window.

Four Greerton pensioners awoke yesterday to find their cars had been broken into in the carpark outside their flats.

The thieves broke the triangular, back window of Barbara Flutey's green Daihatsu, emptied out her glove box and rifled through the items on her back seat.

"It's not very nice to get up to in the morning. You should have seen the glass on the back seat of the car. It's just the little shards. It's not nice at all," the 69-year-old said. "It's a bit of a nuisance."

A neighbour alerted Mrs Flutey when he noticed the damage as he went for a walk about 7.30am.

The same window was smashed on three other cars which were parked in the carpark of the council flats on Maitland St. A radio was taken from one. Residents reported it to the police who arrived to fingerprint the cars.

The damage to Mrs Flutey's car had been temporarily fixed yesterday and was covered by insurance. None of the residents heard the noise during the night.

Kate Gallant, whose mother lives in one of the flats, said it was disgusting people would target pensioners.

"It's a bit of a blow for those people because some of them don't have very much," she said. The Western Bay of Plenty crime statistics released yesterday show theft had increased by 4.9 per cent in the last financial year.