Teens arrested for burglary after cross-country search through bush and across farms

PIERS FULLER/STUFF

The Belvedere Store in Carterton was robbed on Saturday.

Three teens allegedly involved in an armed burglary were arrested after being tracked through bush and over farmland for more than an hour by police and members of the public.

The teens had been followed after they allegedly stole cigarettes and cash from a dairy in Carterton on Saturday morning.

Detective sergeant Mike Smith said two teens entered the Belvedere Store on Belvedere Road, Carterton at about 8.45am. One was armed with a knife.

PIERS FULLER/STUFF

Fensham Reserve is 3km west of Carterton.

"One has jumped the counter and started to steal cigarettes and cash when he was confronted by the dairy owner, who has seen the knife and retreated back out of the store into the adjoining house," Smith said.

The dairy owner then raised the alarm. A member of the public heard the dairy owner yelling and saw the teens leave the dairy and hop into a nearby vehicle.

"This member of the public has followed the car to a rural location near a public reserve where the vehicle was either dumped or got stuck. Three people were seen running from the vehicle into the bush," he said.

A police dog was brought to the scene and put on the track of the teens, who had entered Fensham Reserve, about 3km west of Carterton.

"The dog tracked them for about an hour and a half through the reserve and onto nearby farmland. The suspects were located on a farm some considerable distance from the car," he said.

The suspects, aged 16, 17 and 19 were arrested about 4-5 kilometres from the car. All the teens were from Wairarapa, he said.

"While we had the police dog, this search was assisted by members of the public who had seen these guys running along farmland and told us where they were. We had great assistance from the community in catching these guys," he said.

The dairy owner was uninjured. Cigarettes and cash were located at the scene of the arrests.

The car had been stolen from an address in Lower Hutt on Friday, Smith said.

On Saturday the dairy owner, who did not want to be named, said it was "a scary experience" and he was grateful to the member of the public who followed his attackers