Pegasus Post: November 22, 2016

PEGASUS POST Tuesday November 22 2016 5
News
Quake looters brag online
• By Gabrielle Stuart
A GROUP of teenagers are
believed to have looted a
string of New Brighton homes
for alcohol and then posted
about it on social media.
Several New Brighton
residents returned to their
homes after being evacuated
last week to find looters had
been through their properties.
Screenshots of a post on
Facebook by a teenage girl,
who appears to be boasting
about stealing more than 60
bottles of alcohol, have been
passed on to the police.
The teenager has since
deleted her Facebook profile.
Bower Ave resident Darryl
Jones said his family were left
feeling violated and angry
when they discovered the
thefts.
He discovered nine bottles
of spirits, which he had been
given for his birthday over
the weekend, had been stolen
from his garage, and someone
had attempted to syphon fuel
out of his car.
They stayed with a family
member overnight after they
evacuated in the early hours of
last Monday morning.
They returned to their home
that day, but did not discover
the theft of the alcohol until
Tuesday, when Mr Jones went
to put something away in his
garage.
“Alcohol is alcohol, it’s not
the end of the world, but it’s
the invasion of privacy,” he
said.
“We’re pretty shaken up by
everything. The earthquake
was one thing, then the
tsunami warning was next
level, but then to discover your
birthday presents have been
pinched.”
They reported the theft to
the police, and were told a
police officer would visit to try
to collect fingerprints.
When he posted about the
thefts on Facebook, other
users replied with screenshots
of the teenagers they believed
were responsible.
New Brighton Senior
Sergeant Dave Robertson said
there had been six reported
burglaries from homes along
the coast while families were
evacuated.
He said they were following
up several leads, including the
social media posts and reports
from neighbours who believed
they had seen the looters.
“These people aren’t the
SHAMELESS: One of the Facebook posts by teenagers
believed to have been involved in the looting.
brightest in the world, so often
they will brag to their friends
about what they’ve done and
their friends will be appalled
and come to us,” he said.
The victims of the break-ins
included the Mill family, who
had their truck, electronics
and their daughter’s $5000
hearing aid device stolen while
they were evacuated.
A huge response from the
community has raised almost
$50,000 for the family, which
they have pledged to share
with other looting victims.
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