Stolen Napier RSA trailer recovered by police in time for Anzac Day

The offending vehicle stealing the Napier RSA's dump run trailer.

A trailer used to take rubbish to the dump that was stolen from the Napier RSA two days before Anzac Day has been found and returned to the club by police, thanks to information provided by the public.

Police on Thursday executed a search warrant at a Napier property where they recovered the stolen trailer.

Detective Sergeant Andrew Boyd leads the Hawke’s Bay Tactical Crime Unit and is a returned serviceman.

Boyd said it was “humbling” to help with the swift return of the trailer to the RSA before Anzac Day.

“Trailers are a hot commodity to thieves because they are easily re-registered,” he said.

The trailer was stolen from the Napier RSA carpark at 5.24am on Wednesday with a wheel lock still attached, which Boyd said wasn’t enough to deter the criminals.

“If you’ve got a trailer, please consider looking at new technology to help with security, such as air tags with GPS capability for tracking purposes,” he said.

“We also encourage securing trailers to a fixed structure.”

Napier RSA chief executive Anne Woolrich said the trailer was now back in their possession and she wanted to give a huge shout-out to Napier police and the community, which provided leads.

“We are grateful,” she said.

A police spokesman said the investigation into the theft was ongoing and they would like to hear from anyone with information that could lead to the culprits or help identify the vehicle in the CCTV image (pictured with this story).

If you have information that can help, please contact police via 105 or online, using the reference 250423/9978.