A vineyard owner’s prevention efforts, combined with some stellar teamwork, have led to the arrest of two Canterbury men, accused of stealing 900 litres of diesel.

About 2.30pm on Saturday 29 September, two men drove into the rural Waipara vineyard, their small truck hauling two large containers. As the pair set about driving from diesel tank to diesel tank, filling the containers with fuel that didn’t belong to them, alarms were triggered on the owner’s cellphone.

Knowing there wasn’t meant to be anyone on site that day, the owner rang 111 and soon Police and a Police dog handler were at the scene.

Those officers were then joined by a drone operator and a local helicopter operator, both of whom were passing by and stopped to offer assistance.

Thanks to the combined effort, Police soon had fuel thieves in cuffs, said Senior Sergeant Stephen McDaniel, Waimakariri and Hurunui Response Manager.

“It’s not a common occurrence, to have a drone pilot and helicopter pilot turn up and offer their assistance, but the air support was invaluable.

“The vineyard covers a large area, and the eyes in the sky meant there was no way these guys would be able to get away.

“This was a fantastic result, showing great prevention measures by the vineyard operators and a co-ordinated approach from Police and the rural community working together to hold offenders to account and keep our community safe.”

Two men, aged 35 and 51, have been charged with entering agricultural land with intent to commit imprisonable offence, and failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search. They are due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on 22 and 23 October, respectively.

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