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Home / New Zealand

Watch: Hero chases kale thief, police dog bites his shorts

By Charlotte Carter
NZ Herald·
15 Jan, 2018 09:08 PM3 mins to read

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Music producer and sales consultant Acen Fairbrother was about to go to bed when his night took a wild turn.

Music producer and sales consultant Acen Fairbrother was about to go to bed when his night took a wild turn.

A good Samaritan chased an alleged thief carrying fishing rods and kale - only to have a gun pulled on him and a police dog bite his shorts.

When Christchurch man Acen Fairbrother thought it was a bit peculiar when he saw a woman "waddling across the road" with her arms full of fishing rods on Monday night.

"I thought to myself, 'Bugger me, it's too late to be going for a fish in the middle of Riccarton'."

Fairbrother said he holds no ill feelings about the damage to his shorts, he was just happy to help.
Fairbrother said he holds no ill feelings about the damage to his shorts, he was just happy to help.

He started videoing the escapade for his 900 Snapchat friends.

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Fairbrother said about 30 seconds later a man came running down the road, yelling that the woman had been going through his car.

"Then basically I knocked on the window [of the house] and was like 'Oi, she's over there'. And he didn't know where I was pointing so I ran down and we found her. She was just sitting down behind a car with all the stolen stuff around her. She had cameras and a shoebox that she had stuffed with kale."

The kale had reportedly been stolen from the man's garage fridge.

Fairbrother said the woman then jumped a fence and he went after her.

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"I kept my distance because I knew I couldn't physically grab her or anything so just kept an eye on her."

Music producer and sales consultant Acen Fairbrother was about to go to bed when his night took a wild turn.
Music producer and sales consultant Acen Fairbrother was about to go to bed when his night took a wild turn.

"I was on the phone to 111 explaining where she was going and that, then she reached into her bag and said, 'I've got a gun, I'll f****ng shoot you'."

Fairbrother thought she was bluffing, so continued chasing her.

"When we got up to one of the street corners she stopped and pulled out, at the time, what I thought was a real hand gun and pointed it straight at me."

Discover more

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Former cop nearly four times over the limit, court told

15 Jan 09:48 PM

Fairbrother said he backed off after that, and then looked behind him - and a police officer was sprinting down the road with a dog.

The dog went straight for Fairbrother and ripped his shorts and before sniffing the woman out in a nearby bush.

A police spokesman said they we re called to Blenheim Rd about 11.30pmA patrol car attended, along with a dog unit.

A 36-year-old woman was arrested and charged with burglary and threatening to kill.

She was due in Christchurch District Court today.

Fairbrother said despite his shorts being collateral damage, he thought the police and dog did a brilliant job and responded very quickly.

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"One of the police officers said he'll meet me at the mall this week and get me a new pair of shorts," Fairbrother said.

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