An Auckland woman is sleeping with a knife next to her bed and has been left to “play detective” in an effort to catch those responsible for stealing $40,000 of her belongings from her home – while she slept.
Despite providing police with CCTV, transactions from her stolen bank cards and information on cars suspected to be involved in the offending – including her own – Annlyss Wood said she “hasn’t heard a word” from detectives, more than five days after the home invasion.
She said now sleeps with a knife next to her bed to feel safe at night.
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In the early hours of Saturday morning, Wood was asleep in her Northcote home when she was woken by her dog barking.
“At the time I didn’t think anything of it. The last thing I imagined was that there was someone in my home,” Wood said.
But when she walked into her living room on Saturday morning she found her ranch slider wide open.
“Straight away I had this wave of realising that something wasn’t right.
“I turned around and noticed my bag with my bank cards, cash, car keys and everything in it, that I’d left on the kitchen bench, was gone.”
Wood called her partner who came over and noticed her car was also gone.
Supplied/Stuff
Wood’s VW Golf, which was stolen on the night her home was broken in to.
“My house is at least 30 metres back off the road, and up a path and some stairs. They must have come in around the side of the house, through to the back deck, past my bedroom, through the ranch slider doors, it was just so brazen.”
Wood estimated the total value of what was stolen was $40,000 “on the lesser end”.
But, she’s frustrated with what she’s described as a lack of action from police.
Despite reporting the burglary on Saturday morning and saying she’s provided a tranche of information to police in relation to the offending, Wood said she feels like she’s been left to investigate the matter herself.
“The only time any police officer even came to my house was when a man came to dust the ranch slider door for fingerprints on Sunday – more than 24 hours after the home invasion.”
Wood spent Saturday tracing the offender’s movements through her bank transactions.
Her card was first used at a local dairy at 1.50am on Saturday, and then again at three more dairies and multiple gas stations across Auckland’s North Shore.
JASON DORDAY/Stuff
The Aucklander was home alone on Friday night when she was burgled and after gathering information about the crime, wants police to act on it.
At each location, Wood asked to see CCTV footage of the times her card was being used.
She said she could see the same man in a black hoodie, using what appeared to be her bank card, to buy $1300 worth of items such as cigarettes.
Wood took copies of security camera footage from dairies and a gas station that she said showed someone getting into her car with another man.
She said she’s provided that footage to police but said she is frustrated she’s had no response.
“This is a home invasion we’re talking about here – you’d think they’d at least call me.”
Since the incident, Wood has changed her locks and installed various measures, including a CCTV system with motion sensors.
“I still feel sick to my stomach thinking about what could have happened if I got out of bed.
“It’s just so frustrating that I’ve had to play detective myself – what happens if these men do this again and someone gets hurt?”
Wood wants police to publicly release the CCTV footage as part of the investigation.
“I just want to see them caught, so they can’t do this to someone else – they’re not young teenagers, they’re grown men who know what they’re doing.”
A spokesperson for the police confirmed Wood’s case had been assigned to the Tactical Crime Unit.
“Police aim to resolve all investigations as soon as possible, however given operational demands and external factors, such as viable forensic options, this may take some time,” a police spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said police were at Wood’s home within 24 hours of her report.
Wood said that visit to her home was to dust for fingerprints.
