Police release bizarre film of burglary in Auckland suburb which shows crook hiding from CCTV cameras using child’s bedding

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

New Zealand police are appealing to the public for help in apprehending an undercover criminal who carried out a household burglary from beneath a children’s duvet.

In a post to Facebook, Sergeant John Roberts of Counties Manukau police said the man had stolen items including cash and jewellery from a house in the Auckland suburb of Dannemora on the morning of 20 March.

It posted a video, captured from internal security cameras, of the man shuffling around on his haunches draped in a child’s colourful print duvet, rifling through drawers for valuables.

Though it is not clear from the clip, in which the man is barely visible beneath the bedspread, police said he was a Caucasian male of slim build, aged in his 20s.

As several Facebook users-cum-armchair detectives remarked, the duvet disguise suggested that the man was aware of the CCTV camera inside the house.

More than one user described the burglar’s crawling movement as “creepy”.

Information about the man’s identity can be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.