Spouting heist foiled by boxing neighbours

Sunday, 7 June 2026

Kauri and James Moa chased off would-be thieves from their next-door neighbour's house.

An empty house in Fairfield was a tempting target for a crew of would-be thieves but they didn’t reckon on the next-door neighbours being a family of community-minded boxers.

In the latest of what neighbours say is a developing trend, thieves tried to steal the spouting from a house on Holland Rd on Friday night but were stopped and chased by the returning residents next door.

Father and son James and Kauri Moa investigated noises and gave chase to two , who escaped to a car waiting with a female get-away driver.

“They've been doing it up and down the neighbourhood. So there's a house on the corner of Paul Crescent and Holland Road. All their spouting is gone too, And then they tried to do the neighbours over here.

“So I walked over there and almost got them, bro. Almost - but they were quite fast on their feet.’’

James, a truck driver and former boxer, said he gave chase with 14 year-old Kauri, an up and coming youth-rank boxer.

“They tried running around the house, but we blocked the driveway. So they ran back around the house and jumped the fence, ran past the shops, we chased them across the road.

“They ran around me and the car was parked underneath a tree and they all jumped in and sped off.’’

James said they then got into their own car with wife Shannon and followed before losing the grey Honda, near Anglesea St in the city centre.

They reported the car’s licence plate to Police.

A Police spokesperson confirmed they were called about 10.30pm on Friday by someone reporting two people having fled in a vehicle after being unlawfully on their neighbour’s property.

“Police located the vehicle and three occupants on Cobham Drive shortly after midnight. Charges are expected to follow.’’

The Moas say the house had been on the market for some months before being sold recently, and the new owners have not moved in yet.

However, it is not the first time the house had been raided, with thieves also stealing “show furniture’’ from the property several weeks ago.