North Shore woman reports car theft after young boy let in to use the toilet

A North Shore woman who says she was hesitant to let a young boy in when he came to her door asking to use the toilet was sadly proven right when a car was stolen from her driveway minutes later.

The incident in Torbay on Wednesday night has her offering a warning to others and advice for anyone targeted in a similar way.

The woman told the Herald that a young boy aged about 10 came to her home after 7pm, telling her that he lived down the road, his parents weren't home and he needed to use the toilet.

She asked if he was with anyone else, but he replied he was alone.

"I was very hesitant," the woman, who works as a primary school teacher, said.

She said that she was unnerved because she would have expected a boy of that age out on his own to be more upset if he needed the toilet.

"Most kids that age would want to get hold of their parents, rather than use the bathroom and go."

Police are investigating the theft. Photo / 123RF

She said the entire episode was over in 15 minutes.

"We let him in and were on edge afterwards. We kept looking outside, I then went outside to have a look from the deck and saw him and 2 others standing at the bottom of the drive," she said.

She told the Herald that the other two boys were taller and she estimated they were a few years older than the young boy that asked to come inside.

"I was then more worried as he first said he was by himself. That happening definitely made us question what was going on, we wouldn't have noticed at all if that boy didn't come to the house."

About 5 minutes later the woman and her flatmates noticed a car being driven off without headlights and discovered one of their cars was missing

Her partner later noted that most boys of that age would have just found a spot to relieve themselves before they would knock on a stranger's door.

The woman said that anyone else who finds themselves in that situation could offer to call the child's parents for them instead of letting them into the house.

She told the Herald that the keys were not taken and that she believed the younger boy asking to go to the toilet was a way to distract the people inside the home from what was going on outside.

The Herald approached the police for comment on this theft and asked for advice for residents on how to deal with similar situations.

"Police are investigating a vehicle theft in Torbay last night," a spokesperson replied.

"inquiries are continuing. No arrests have been made."