Busted after 2 years on the run

One of New Zealand's most wanted criminals has been captured near Tauranga and is in jail awaiting trial for a series of crimes committed in Whangarei.

Twelve police officers from Whangarei and Bay of Plenty swooped on a Pukehina property at 2pm on Wednesday and arrested career criminal Simon Allan Kerr, wanted for burglaries involving about $200,000 worth of goods.

Kerr, 50, had been on the run for nearly two years after a series of burglaries in Whangarei.

He was charged in Tauranga District Court yesterday morning with one attempted burglary and seven burglaries of commercial premises dating back to April 2009. He was remanded in custody and will appear in Whangarei Court on Tuesday.

Detective Sergeant Shane Pilmer said Kerr was charged with alleged burglaries at Noel Leeming and Harvey Norman stores in Whangarei, Four Square in Onerahi, Waipu Four Square, Maggie Dixon and Cobb and Co on Bank St, and at New World Pukekohe.

Kerr also allegedly attempted to break into Farmers in Whangarei, he said.

Four officers from Northland, led by Mr Pilmer, assisted eight officers from the Bay of Plenty during Kerr's arrest.

Mr Pilmer said police investigations and help from the public led to Kerr's arrest.

Kerr had been on the run since December 2009 when a warrant was issued for his arrest after he was linked to the April burglary of the Whangarei Noel Leeming store. He was on parole at the time of the robbery and had been sighted in the Whangarei area.

He was the subject of a segment on TV2's Police 10/7 series in February 2010 after the trail had gone well and truly cold.

The arrest this week followed a tip-off understood to have come from a member of the public. A Northland spokeswoman said police had surrounded the property Kerr was in and he gave himself up without incident.

Although Kerr had eluded police for 21 months, he is distinctive looking, being 190cm tall, heavily tattooed on his arms and legs and with tattoos of bats on each side of his neck.

He gained notoriety about 20 years ago as the leader of the "Hole in the Wall" safecracker gang in Auckland. The gang escaped with thousands of dollars in jewellery and cash in a year-long crime spree. In one spectacular raid, a 1630kg safe was pulled through the walls of Mt Eden's BNZ branch and $30,000 stolen.

Kerr also made headlines for staging a 12-day protest on top of Mt Eden Prison in August 1994. He camped out on a prison roof turret for 12 days in protest of conditions in the remand wing.

He escaped from custody four times, including once from Mt Eden, in 1990.