An attempted raid on a beer fridge in Palmerston, near Darwin, last night failed when the thief picked a noisy wheelie bin to carry away the alcohol.
Police allege the man entered a residential property about 2.30am, took alcohol from the fridge and used a wheelie bin to carry it away.
Duty Superintendent Mike Murphy says the noisy getaway vehicle woke up the owner.
"He took about a six pack of beer, two bottles of wine and a bottle of spirits from an outdoor fridge, loaded it into their wheelie bin and trotted off down the road," he said.
"The occupier woke up and obviously got a good description.
"He was easy to find one street later, still with the wheelie bin."