AUCKLAND: He filled his shopping trolley with 241 Whittaker’s chocolate bars worth NZ$1,349.60 (US$830) and tried to leave the store without paying.
But the 37-year-old man was stopped by security officers before he left a supermarket in New Zealand with his sugary loot.
Counties Manukau South Senior Sergeant M. J. Riddle said in a Facebook post on July 4 that the officers had locked the trolley’s wheels, and when the suspect attempted to drag it away, it tipped over, resulting in the supermarket’s staff recovering all the ill-gotten chocolate.
The man, who was arrested earlier in the week at a property in Duke Street, was not unknown to the police either, she added, with the Facebook post calling him a “prolific shoplifter”.
He had been a person of interest for the police after a series of shoplifting offences took place in South Auckland in the last few weeks, mainly from supermarkets.
Describing the arrest as an “excellent outcome”, Sgt Riddle said the police will continue targeting “prolific offending against retail businesses in our communities”.
The man will be charged with multiple counts of burglary and shoplifting on July 8 at the Papakura District Court in Auckland. - The Straits Times/ANN
