Zoe Hunter: My car got broken into and we caught the thief

Zoe Hunter's car was broken into and she says the thief will surprise you. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

My car was broken into the other night.

I had parked on the road under a street light. It was a Monday about 9pm when my fiance and I heard the car alarm.

We found my car with its small rear window smashed, two passenger doors open, my gym bag, hand sanitiser, and a face mask strewn across the footpath, and the glove box open.

Nothing was taken apart from a few coins and a branded face mask. Why would someone steal something so identifiable?

It was clearly not the workings of a veteran thief.

While I stayed back to call police, my fiance walked the nearby streets to see if he could see anyone suspicious.

Minutes later, he called me, puffing: "I've found him."

My fiance had identified the thief from the branded mask around his neck.

Asked where he got it, the thief replied: "From New World."

Yeah, right.

The thing is this thief was not a big, frightening, tough, burly man.

He was just a boy who looked all of 10-years-old.

My fiance managed to snap a photo of the boy before he ran off into the night.

We couldn't believe it.

A child had broken into my car, smashed the windows and stolen what would have been all of a measly $1.20 and a face mask.

The amount of youth crime that appears to be happening in the region astonishes me.

I have seen constant posts on Facebook about people's cars getting broken into, packages being stolen from letterboxes, and youths stealing fizzy drinks from local dairies.

It seems crime is getting more frightening and I believe the community has had enough.

NZME has reported staff at one of the Bay of Plenty's largest malls saying they are working in fear of young, "brazen", "out-of-control" offenders.

A mall worker was out for a walk during a break and was allegedly assaulted by a bunch of youths and suffered a significant injury to his eye.

Ram raids have tripled across the Bay of Plenty between 2019 and 2021 - and district manager intelligence Inspector Brendon Keenan says the main culprits are groups of boys aged between 14 and 19.

Some can be as young as 12.

These are just kids with their whole lives ahead of them but they're off the rails.

Solving the issue of youth crime is a complex matter but I believe two things would help - parents who act like parents and either get control of their children or seek help to do so, and more police.

These young offenders are hurting people and businesses, breaking people's possessions, and causing strife across the communities.

But they are also hurting themselves and their futures.

We need to do better to stop the cycle. It starts at home.