Teen thieves mocked (+ video)

Three teenagers are caught on camera as they start ransacking Lott Rentals in Masterton.

Teens who twice ransacked a Masterton firm in overnight raids have been pilloried on social media and blamed for a spate of crimes in the town.

The Lott Rentals co-owner Ross Gregory said the teens had broken into the yard of his Dixon St business about 1.30am on Friday and were captured on security cameras sneaking about the premises, testing doors and peering into cars and caravans.

Mr Gregory said the teens had entered the premises through a hole in an almost 2m-tall fence surrounding the property.

"One part of it, there was about seven people wandering around here the first time they broke in. They took a small TV and I think at least a couple of them slept in one of the caravans as well, and were still here when I arrived to unlock in the morning."

Mr Gregory said he had not viewed the camera footage when he opened on Friday. He had, during his morning round, bypassed a large caravan that had its door locked, before returning to find the door wide open, the bed inside rumpled and unmade, and the interior reeking of cigarette smoke.

Milk powder had been thrown around the interior "and all over the outside" of another caravan at the premises as well, he said, and the teens had also entered vehicles parked at a neighbouring car yard.

Mr Gregory repaired the fence but three of the teens returned about 5am on Saturday and found a way on to the property through the rear of the premises.

"That's when they got in to the building and took all the keys. We've since got some of them back, which were found spread out in a flower bed at St Pat's school, and a fella rang up and said he had some too. Police went and got them but some important keys are still missing."

He said the teens had also been linked to the theft of a vehicle from the nearby Metlife Care Retirement Village, and an early morning break-in at a home across from his business while the owners were sleeping.

Mr Gregory said video footage of the thieves had been helpful in identifying the likely culprits once uploaded to the company Facebook page, and had been shared close to 150 times and viewed by thousands of people, including relatives of some of the teens said to be involved.

Family members had railed against teens identified in the video on Facebook, urging them to "do the right thing and hand yourself in" and to name their co-offenders. Others had voiced their hopes "they get what they deserve" and expressed their shame at the tainting of their family names.

The Lott co-owner Joanne Gregory said she had heard reports several of the teens had been caught breaking into the home near her business, and members of the group had also attempted to enter vehicles on a car yard further north on Dixon St.

She said police had told her "that because the kids were under 18, there was nothing they can do", although "they said there was one main instigator and if he kept going like he was, there would probably be something happening to him."

Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Bysouth said an investigation had been launched into the burglary and police were close to identifying some culprits.