Hamilton Police investigating the weekend theft of a patrol car are crediting the offender's arrest to a combination of sound traditional investigative methods married to information obtained through social media.
Waikato Prevention Manager, Inspector Paul Carpenter, said the 34-year-old man was arrested yesterday.
"The man has been interviewed by Police and admitted taking the patrol car from a Mahoe St address about 7.15am on Saturday and abandoning it at Hamilton's Lake Rotoroa.
"Despite the car being a marked patrol vehicle and its flashing lights, the offender told officers he didn't realise it was a Police car until he was driving it away and heard the Police radio in use."
Mr Carpenter said the man was able to be identified by witnesses to the crash the man had been involved with before the patrol car was taken and through information obtained from Facebook postings.
"Throughout this incident public assistance has played a major part in the successful investigation and we would like to acknowledge that. At the same time the public can be confident that Police embrace new technology including social media and what it offers in terms of investigating offending."
A review into how the offender gained access to the patrol car is underway.
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