Crimeline
Unseasonally cold weather during Labour Weekend kept most downtown revellers in check, apart from some late-night aggression.
At 1am on Sunday, 27 October, Police were called to Church Street where two males, aged 21 and 22, were fighting. Constable Amanda Shute says when Police arrived one of the young men allegedly had the other in a headlock. Both were separated and arrested with a formal written warning issued to them both.
At 3am the same morning a 22-year-old local male allegedly kicked the wing mirror off a taxi in the Queenstown CBD, after the taxi driver refused to take him where he wanted to go. He was charged with wilful damage and will appear in the Queenstown District Court on 1 November.
Police would like to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious near the Queenstown Harvest Community Gardens in Gorge Road on Tuesday, 22 October, after what they believe was the attempted theft of a water tank. Shute says it appears that the suspects may have entered through a gate, lifted an empty water tank onto a trailer and when driving away the tank has fallen off, causing damage to its frame. A Gardens member says two IBCs (International Bulk Containers) had recently been donated and were going to be set behind a new shed to collect rainwater, conserving water to feed the community and the new seedlings pantry. Police want to hear from anyone with information on 105, quoting 241023/7277.
While most people headed off on their long weekend on Friday, non-road Police from Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago left their desks for the ‘Big Day Out’, coming out in force in the name of road safety and dishing out 83 infringement notices.
Otago Lakes Central road policing manager Senior Sergeant Steve Watt says they used targeted high visibility policing to ensure roads in the area remained safe.
Speed was the biggest problem with most of the infringements related to that. “This shows we still have some work to do around the impact of speeding and the devastation this causes on our roads,” Watt says.
The highest speed clocked in at 128km/hr. Thankfully, speeds didn’t reach some of the alarming levels recorded in the region recently.
The same day road Police and the specialist Impairment Team set up a fatigue stop in Tarras, with funding help from the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago District Councils, Alexandra Lions on hand dishing out free hot sausages, lollies and water to drivers needing a break. Road safety coordinators from both councils assisted and 1080 vehicles were checked. Only one driver allegedly blew a breath alcohol level slightly above the legal limit – a male in his 20s who was given a $200 fine and D-merit points.
“It was a successful long weekend with zero road fatalities and Police thank the majority of drivers who planned their journey, were patient, and drove to the conditions despite some torrid weather and an increase in traffic flow,” Watt says.
Fire and Emergency NZ assistant commander Mark Mawhinney says they’re still monitoring hot spots from last week’s vegetation fire bordering Coronet Forest. The fire, which affected about 15ha, started after a rural burn-off got out of control in wind last Wednesday, 23 October. Firefighters from the Arrowtown and Frankton Volunteer Brigades got the blaze under control with help from three helicopters, Mawhinney says. “It was still relatively active overnight but the 20mls of rain the next day helped. It’s still smoking up there around some wood slash piles and we are continuing to monitor it.”
