It all began with an early morning call from a member of the public.
About 2:30am on Monday, New Zealand time, police received a call from a Piopio resident to say they believed they were witnessing a burglary in action at agricultural supplier PGG Wrightson.
There was more.
The burglary involved two people on a quad bike dressed in farm clothing and wearing headlamps.
It had been only 12 days since fugitive Tom Phillips and one of his children were caught on camera in relation to a burglary at the Piopio Superette. That footage matched the description provided by the caller on Monday morning
NZ fugitive Tom Phillips killed Photo shows A close up of Tom Phillips' face.
Tom Phillips is killed during a shootout with police during a burglary in New Zealand's Waikato region, his siste