A gang member wanted by Auckland police has been arrested in Russell after embarking on a two-hour shoplifting spree, then trying to escape in the boot of a car.
The Bay of Islands town's sole constable, Mark Caswell, was alerted to a serial shoplifter on Russell wharf around noon on Saturday.
Thinking
it was a couple of light-fingered kids, he headed down to the wharf in his board shorts and T-shirt - only to find an Auckland man in his 40s of "very, very solid build". He was accompanied by a woman and had a backpack and shopping bag full of jewellery, picture frames and knick-knacks from five shops in Russell and two in Paihia.
Passenger ferry operators had already been warned not to take the pair on board, and they refused to come back to the station.
"I told them they were under arrest, but that didn't go down well."
It was fortunate a non-sworn police officer from Whangarei was at the wharf at the time; all the same, Mr Caswell followed the couple along the waterfront rather than risk a fight.
By the time they were outside the Duke of Marlborough the man was ahead so Mr Caswell decided to take the woman back to the station, sparking a "bit of a wrestling match" in front of the pub's lunchtime patrons.
He then went in search for the man, who a member of the public had seen getting into a car. Mr Caswell found the car on board the Opua ferry but the driver denied seeing the shoplifter.
The missing man's distinctive cap on the passenger seat, however, was a giveaway. At first the driver refused to open the boot, saying he was scared to do so.
It turned out the man hiding in the boot was a member of the Tribesmen wanted by Auckland police.
Mr Caswell thanked Fullers for halting the ferry, members of the public whose information made sure the man did not get away, and the non-sworn officer, without whom the incident could have turned out very differently.
Joseph Randall McFall, 41, pleaded guilty in the Kaikohe District Court on Monday to eight charges of shoplifting. He was held in custody for breaching his prison release conditions and faces other charges in the Manukau and Pukekohe district courts.
