Crimeline - assaults, fights, drunks and rescues
Thrown beer handle slashes girl’s cheek
A 21-year-old Southland man was arrested for assault with a weapon after allegedly throwing a large beer handle glass at an 18-year-old Christchurch woman in a Ballarat Street bar, slashing her in the cheek and causing a nasty laceration. Police were called to the 2 January incident at 1.15am and Haggart says the young woman had to be taken to hospital for treatment. There had been a prior incident with some young girls and another male, who’d found out, was understood to have given the alleged offender a bit of a push, prompting him to allegedly throw the glass, she says. The arrested man will appear in court on 10 February.
Urinating on camping gear earns ride home with Police
A Glenorchy Races fan who overindulged ended up getting a free ride back to Queenstown in a police car after he’d been found urinating onto other people’s camping equipment at the race grounds at 8pm on Saturday, 4 January. Haggart says the 31-year-old was so intoxicated that he’d become separated and unable to find his friends, so Police delivered him home.
Picking a fight
An intoxicated 23-year-old Queenstown man was given a formal warning for disorderly behaviour and taken home just before 8.30pm on Sunday (5 January) after trying to fight with people walking past in Searle Lane. The man was understood to have been refused entry to a bar.
New Year’s Eve fighting
Police inquiries are continuing after a large fight with multiple punches thrown broke out in Ballarat Street at 3.15am on New Year’s Eve (31 December). Haggart says Police have spoken to a 19-year-old
Southland male and a 17-year-old Christchurch male. They’ve been speaking to witnesses and are continuing to check surrounding CCTV footage after others who may have been involved ran off.
A 36-year-old Queenstown man and a 19-year-old Christchurch man were arrested for allegedly fighting on the street outside McDonald’s Restaurant in Camp Street at 3.45am on New Year’s Eve. Security officers and friends had been trying to separate them, Haggart says. Both men will appear in the Queenstown District Court next month.
Acting Senior Sergeant Sam Oram, area response manager, says overall behaviour on New Year’s Eve was good with only one arrest for an unrelated breach of bail. There was good compliance with the liquor ban, some revellers warned and made to tip their alcohol out.
A 36-year-old Queenstown male allegedly became aggressive after being stopped for riding a motorbike with no helmet in Camp Street at 2.30pm on Saturday, 4 January. Haggart says the man allegedly walked away from Police. He was charged with failing to remain stopped, resisting Police and assaulting Police. He will appear in the Queenstown District Court on 27 January.
Senior jet skier escapes unharmed
A 75-year-old Queenstown man was lucky to escape safely after falling off a jet ski close to the Kawarau Falls Bridge rapids at 7.43pm on Monday, 6 January.
Sergeant Tracy Haggart says the Coastguard and a jetboat operator were called to rescue the man, however, he managed to swim back to the jet ski and float downstream to calmer waters where he was able to upright the jet ski himself.
Holiday backcountry rescues
Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter crews have been kept busy since Friday, 3 January, after personal locator beacons were activated on the Rees and Greenstone tracks, an alpine area near Fiery Creek, and Dusky Track in Fiordland. Injured trampers were airlifted to hospital from the Rees and Greenstone with a Wakatipu Alpine Cliff Rescue Team member flown in to help with one of the Fiordland rescues to retrieve and injured person off the Olivine River. The Dusky Track rescue retrieved a fatigued tourist who’d gone off the track into dense bush and windfall.
St John Ambulance staff have also been busy with helicopter callouts retrieving trampers from the Greenstone, one taken to Lakes District Hospital in a moderate condition, a person from Skippers (condition unknown), a patient from Lake Alabaster, Mount Earnslaw and Mount Aspiring National Park.
Injured mountain biker flown to Dunedin
A St John spokesperson says a mountain biker was also airlifted from the trails in Wynyard Crescent, Fernhill, to Dunedin Hospital in a moderate condition after an incident at 5.41pm on Monday, 6 January.
