A Police officer bungled the arrest of a burglar when he mistakenly let him drive a stolen car away a home that had just been robbed, a witness has claimed.

A witness to the getaway ? who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals from the thief who was still believed to be on the loose yesterday ? watched as the officer pulled his car over to let the thief pass.

?He stayed a distance from the place,? the woman said. ?I signalled he was right down there and had gone back in the garage.

?The officer rolled down the hill in his car but said he was waiting for backup,? she said.

?I saw the garage door open. I saw a car come out and but he moved his car out of the way to allow the car to leave the driveway not knowing it was a stolen car.?

She said the thief broke into the Cobbs Hill, Warwick home she was keeping an eye on for friends on Monday but must have planned to return on Thursday morning to steal the rest of the goods.

?I reported that someone had broken in at a house I was looking after. But when I went to meet Police there, the burglar was there again. I did not go inside,? she said. ?I saw a bike in the yard which I did not recognise so I called Police to see if the bike belonged to them, but they said someone was still on their way.?

She met up with the officer who was by himself but he refused to investigate the house because he was still waiting for backup to arrive, she said.

Police yesterday told the witness ? who is dealing with the matter since the owners were still off the Island ? that the car still had not been recovered.

She said she hoped the stolen car was recovered before its owners returned to Bermuda.

Asked what she thought Police could have done better, she said the officer could have stopped his car directly outside the garage door to block the thief?s getaway.

?He was pretty dumb,? she said. ?He was in uniform. I do not think he was a new Policeman.?

In addition to the car, televisions and laptop computers were believed to have been taken from the Cobbs Hill home, she said.

?Thank goodness I did not go in,? she said.

Police yesterday confirmed that they attended the incident.

However, a spokesman would not comment further except to say ?inquiries into the incident were underway?.

He added the stolen car had not been recovered and Police did not encourage lone officers to rush into crime scenes ? ?depending on the situation?.