'Boneheads' arrested in bungled Northland burglary

A pair of suspected burglars were easily found when their vehicle ran out of petrol. Photo/Google Maps

A "pair of boneheads" fell into the police's lap on Monday after their car ran out of petrol metres from a burglary in Whangarei.

Police saw the light side of the crime, posting on social media that sometimes they have to work hard to solve a crime but not so on this occasion.

"A house on Whareora Rd, Whangarei had a brick launched through the window by a pair of boneheads, taking the TV, the homeowners supply of homebrew and a CCTV camera.

"What they forgot to do was check how much fuel they had in their vehicle, we found them high-tailing it away from their vehicle just down the road from the burglary," said the posting on the Northland Police Facebook page.

Sometimes we have to work hard to solve a crime & investigate the matter to the nth degree, but sometimes, like...

Posted by Northland Police on Monday, 15 May 2017

In a statement, police said they received a call from a member of the public advising that his property was being burgled.

The owner had a CCTV security system installed that alerted him when someone entered the property.

The alleged offenders fled the property in a vehicle, which ran out of petrol a short distance from the house. They left on foot, but were quickly identified from the CCTV footage.

An 18-year-old man and 23-year-old man will appear in the Whangarei District Court today on a charge of burglary.