Crimeline: Car crashes, water rescue, assault charge

Car rolls in Huff St

Queenstown Police are urging drivers to take care after attending a large number of vehicle crashes during the past week or so. A 63-year-old woman had a miraculous escape when the car she was driving rolled two to three times down a bank in Huff Street in Queenstown, coming to rest on its roof on a homeowner’s wooden deck. Community and Youth Constable Amanda Shute says the woman was extremely lucky to escape with only a small bruise on her elbow in the accident, which occurred at 2pm on 7 March. She had taken a wrong turn and completed a U-turn at the end of the road, allegedly driving over the concrete curb causing the vehicle to roll down the bank, Shute says. The owners of the house weren’t home but were notified. “Luckily, there’s no damage to the house, but there likely is to the deck.” Wheelie bins were damaged. “It’s very lucky that the car has fallen between the bank and the house.” Charges are being considered.

Asleep at the wheel

In another fortunate escape, a local driver fell asleep at the wheel at 6.30am on 10 March while heading south on Kingston Road, on the Queenstown side of the new roundabout beneath the Remarkables. The vehicle then appears to have crossed the centre line, leaving the road, careering over a culvert along the grass verge and coming to rest against a pile of silage, Shute says. Charges are also being considered here.

Water rescue

Two boaties had a lucky escape too around 5pm on 8 March when their vessel lost power and began crashing against rocks near Bennett’s Bluff, below the Glenorchy Road. Police were alerted of the situation in changing weather conditions, but Shute says information was slow due to the poor cellphone reception in the area. Coastguard Queenstown was called, as was the Glenorchy Volunteer Fire Brigade, and a call went out to all other vessels of opportunity in the area at the time. The Glenorchy Fire volunteers located the distressed boaties in their vessel. “We really want to thank Glenorchy Fire Brigade volunteers for their rapid assistance in locating the vessel,” Shute says. “We’re also very grateful to The Spirit of Queenstown and Queenstown Water Taxi operators, who both responded to the vessel to communicate with the occupants and ascertain whether there were any injuries,” she says. “We were relying on phone reception which was dropping in and out.” Police really want to remind people to be prepared when out boating, she says. “Having two waterproof means of communication is essential, and a simple UHF radio in this instance would have assisted greatly in the emergency response.”

Assault charge

A 29-year-old local man was charged with assault after Police were called to an Arrowtown bar when he allegedly punched the security guard in the head, Shute says. “The security guard had removed him from the bar for urinating in the outdoor area.” After he’d been removed, he then returned and allegedly punched the guard. The man is due appear in the Queenstown District Court on 19 March.

Shout out to patrollers

Police would also like to give a shout out to their wonderful Community Patrol team volunteers who patrol downtown streets and out into the basin’s residential suburb hot spots like parks and places where youth gather. More volunteers are needed for these Friday and Saturday evening shifts, to maintain a strong presence on our streets, Shute says. People should always report any suspicious behaviour or trouble to Police in the first instance, through 105 or 111, but the volunteer patrollers are happy to talk to the public about their role. “These patrollers are our eyes and ears and report any suspicious or untoward behaviour they see to the Police units on duty.”

To volunteer for Community Patrol email: queenstown@cpnz.org.nz