Police in Waikato have returned stolen bespoke archery items belonging to a New Zealand representative after recovering them in a recent warrant.
Riku van Tonder was thrilled to get the call from Hamilton’s Tactical Crime Unit, while he was competing in the World Cup Stage 2 in Shanghai, to inform him his personalised archery kit had been located.
The bow, arrows, quiver, sight and other accessories, worth an estimated $12,000, were stolen along with his Amarok ute from outside his home in Hamilton in the early hours of 30 April.
The representative archer was days away from departing to China for the competition when he headed out to work around 4am to discover his ute had gone along with the items.
It takes the father of two around an hour to individually prepare each arrow for personal use. That’s at least 20 hours spent preparing the arrows that were stolen.
“It takes about two or three months to get the set up ready to compete in international tournaments," he says. "You need to get it perfect for your muscle and body build.”
Riku spent the Monday night putting the final touches on his kit ahead of his trip.
“The bow is the hard part to replace. I can buy all the gear again but it’s the time to set up and get all the bow and arrows ready.”
Riku says he wouldn’t typically leave his gear in the vehicle, but with a big week of work he was being prepared and hoping to get a practice in at the archery range during his break that day.
“I did have a back up kit but the arrows were the big blow as I had to build 24 from scratch, so it was rough trying to get those done.”
On Friday 9 May, Waikato's Tactical Crime Unit executed a series of warrants in the Hamilton area, with assistance from the Armed Offenders Squad, in relation to burglary offending.
At one property, officers located the stolen bow and arrows along with several other items and an imitation pistol. Two people were arrested at the property on an unrelated burglary and a warrant to arrest.
Officers managed to get hold of Riku the same day and inform him the items had been located.
“It was wonderful, says Riku. "This is the stuff you can’t replace. It’s quite special, especially the bow, and it’s a great result.
"Everyone was really helpful and when I got the call, I was so relieved.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Ian Foster says it was rewarding to be able to recover the items for Riku.
“We know it is not only the cost of replacing property that hurts people, but the unseen, irreplaceable, sentimental value of stolen items.
"It was very rewarding for the team to be able to recover the bow and arrows and hear about the time and effort that goes into setting it up and building the arrows.”
Police are continuing inquiries into the stolen ute, which was not located at the property.