Cyclone Gabrielle: Man who burgled flood-damaged house and EIT campus now behind bars

Benjamin Mark Sorensen burgled a house on Puketapu Rd, which was inundated during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A man is behind bars after he burgled a badly damaged house and a tertiary campus that were inundated during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Benjamin Mark Sorensen, 46, appeared in the Napier District Court today after pleading guilty to four burglary charges and three of receiving stolen property.

Judge Geoff Rea denied the Napier man bail, saying this would be “inappropriate”, and remanded him in custody until a sentencing date in November.

Hawke’s Bay was hard hit by Cyclone Gabrielle in February. Residents set up roadblocks around the settlement of Puketapu, west of Napier, after reports of looting there.

On April 10, a resident of Puketapu Rd who had been forced out of his badly damaged home returned to find it had been broken into and a large amount of property stolen.

This included two shotguns and two rifles, four expensive pushbikes and tools.

According to a police summary of facts, Sorensen had visited the property at least twice. Two of the bicycles were found at his home on May 3.

Police also said that on April 29, Sorensen drove to the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) campus in Taradale, which was shut down and fenced off after it was flooded during the cyclone.

They said he went into the fenced-off area and took all four wheels from an EIT pool vehicle in the car park.

He later went back, climbed over the fence, and took a computer monitor, a large pile of electronic cables and an EIT sign.

These items, along with the wheels, were found at Sorenson’s place during the police search.

Police also found property that had been taken in other burglaries, including a box of wine with a label carrying the address of a burgled transport business in Riddle St, Ahuriri.

They found electronic stage equipment, a till, a leaf blower, tools, credit cards and a dismantled Beam scooter, much of which was traced to other burglaries. Some of the tools were marked with the name of a man who had been burgled.

When spoken to by police, Sorensen said most of the property had been brought to his place by an associate and he was “mostly just the driver”.

However, he admitted taking the bikes from Puketapu Rd, although he denied stealing the firearms.

He admitted being responsible for the burglaries at EIT.

Sorensen also said he had been the “driver” for an associate who had broken into the Riddle St business, taking electronic equipment and the wine box.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.