When the suspect tried to run away she chased him on foot across town and caught him at a Paihia dwelling. He was then taken to Paihia police station for processing.
''It was a good catch by a dedicated off-duty officer. She displayed outstanding courage and athletic ability,'' Vartan said.
A 27-year-old Bay of Islands man is due in the Whangārei District Court today charged with theft and escaping custody. He was also allegedly breaching bail.
It's not the first time someone has tried to make off with a donation box in the Bay of Islands, but, thanks to in-store security cameras, the thieves rarely get away.
In 2018, a 36-year-old Paihia man was arrested for stealing a Red Cross donation box containing more than $200 from the front counter of the Four Square in Russell. He was identified by CCTV footage and arrested.
In 2017 a Kidney Kids donation box was stolen from Kerikeri Sushi Gallery. In that case, a 34-year-old Kerikeri man confessed after a CCTV image was published online and in the Advocate. He was charged with theft and donated $100 to the charity, double the amount he was thought to have taken.
In 2016 a box brimming with donations for Opua School was stolen from the town's General Store. A teenage girl from Whangārei was arrested after someone recognised a CCTV image also published in the Advocate.