A man is facing several charges after a car was ditched off a Port Chalmers wharf amid a string of burglaries and vehicle thefts across Dunedin this morning.
Police said they were called to Peninsula Beach Rd about 6.30am after a car was found submerged off the wharf at Back Beach.
The man is believed to have abandoned the vehicle before it went into the water.
He then allegedly stole another car from a nearby workplace, which police recovered a few hours later.
The incidents followed earlier reports of vehicle tampering in Port Chalmers and an attempted break-in at a retail store in South Dunedin.
Police arrested the man just before 9am after he was discovered breaking into a house on Beach St.
He is charged with theft from a car, unlawful interference with a motor vehicle, attempted unlawful taking, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle and three counts of burglary by day.
He is due to appear in the Dunedin District Court tomorrow.
The Otago Regional Council's deputy harbourmaster worked alongside police and the council's pollution team to retrieve the car from the water at Back Beach.
The ORC harbourmaster described the operation as "a great example of inter-agency collaboration" in a social media post.
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