Traffic jam stops thief's getaway

A bungling thief was nabbed after his plans for a quick getaway were thwarted by heavy traffic.

Milford Liquor Centre owner Charles Hwang was in the coolroom of his shop on Auckland's North Shore when a man stole two bottles of whisky.

His wife got the registration number of the getaway car but minutes later saw it outside the Kitchener Rd shop - stuck in traffic.

Hwang demanded the man - who was sitting in the front passenger seat - give back the whisky, but the car raced off along a footpath, leaving pedestrians scrambling to escape.

Police were called after another driver blocked its escape route from a nearby carpark.

The driver and front seat passenger ran off but were later arrested.

"Everyone's always complaining about the traffic and for once it was a good thing," said Constable Megan Cooke.

"They couldn't get though the traffic and they had Mr Hwang banging on the window." She praised the motorists who blocked the offender's car: "They did a great job. Generally people will just say 'they went that way'."