Theft of Trelise Cooper: two people arrested, some clothes recovered

Two people were arrested after nearly 2,000 samples were taken from fashion designer Dame Trelise Cooper last month.

“A lone hanger” was all that was left after the late October robbery, which was a “kick in the guts” for Cooper 100 staff and impacted a night of charity fashion for breast cancer in Tauranga, Cooper said previously.

Auckland City East Police Detective Sergeant Major Kathy Bostock said two people were arrested Thursday in connection with the raid after a search warrant was carried out in central Auckland.

Officers also recovered a “significant amount” of the stolen clothing that would be returned to Cooper, Bostock said.

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A 41-year-old man had been charged with theft and a 45-year-old woman had been charged with receiving stolen property.

Both were expected to appear in Auckland District Court on Friday.

“We hope that today’s arrests will provide the victim of this incident some reassurance,” Bostock said.

“Our investigation is ongoing and we cannot rule out the possibility of further arrests and charges.”

Cooper previously said thieves entered through a vent into the downtown Auckland-style home in Epsom over the weekend of October 17-18.

The theft was discovered when staff returned after the weekend, Cooper said.

“We got to work on Monday morning and there were no samples in the sample room.”

Cooper said a sample coordinator went to start taking samples.

“She came in and said, ‘Okay, they’ve moved the samples. Why didn’t they tell me?

“It was a slow sunrise that, ‘Oh God, everyone’s gone.’