Watch: Tauranga man films himself confronting thieves

A man returns the stolen wheels to their owner.
A man returns the stolen wheels to their owner. Photo credit: Facebook/Cooper Tyres

A Tauranga man has sensationally taken the law into his own hands to recover some stolen goods.

Ethan Bryant, the owner of Cooper Tyres in Mount Maunganui, arrived at work on Thursday to find that a set of alloy wheels and some scrap metal had been stolen from his business.

Bryant then posted CCTV images on the business' Facebook page and appealed to the public to help him identify the alleged thief and his whereabouts.

The response he received from the Tauranga public was almost instantly successful for Bryant.

"It only took us three hours to find out stuff when we got to work this morning. You all are amazing," the company posted on their Facebook page.

However, that's where Bryant's actions took a turn down an unusual road as, instead of calling on the police for help, he decided to go to the address he was provided and film himself demanding the goods back.

The footage shows an unflappable Bryant walking into the property and simply asking the people at the address to give him his wheels back.

"I'm just here to collect my shit that was stolen from my workshop last night," Bryant says in the shared video.

"You came and stole some wheels from Copper Tyres last night, I just see them sitting out here, I've got your photo on camera, so if you and your mates could politely come out here and just help me carry them back to my car... that'd be f***en amazing."

After a brief attempt at denial, all three people at the property help carry the wheels back to Bryant's vehicle and he goes on his way with a parting message for the alleged criminals.

"Don't bother coming around to my shop any more, next time it won't be so f***ing pleasant."

Despite Bryant's successful stolen-goods recovery, police recommend members of the public should let them do their job instead of confronting suspected thieves themselves.

''Doing so puts people at serious risk. We ask that people contact police or Crimestoppers (anonymously on 0800 555 111) and let police take the appropriate action.''

No charges have been laid to police in regard to the incident.

The video has clocked up over 330,000 views at the time of writing and prompted amazed and encouraging comments from Facebook users.

"Damn you have some self control mate! Good shit," Ginga Muir wrote.

"Well impressed with how well you kept your cool and didn't lower yourself to their level," Linda Hilt added.

Newshub.