Crimeline - ski gear thefts, icy roads
Bars, nightclub and ski gear thefts
Sergeant Tracy Haggart is warning people to keep a watch on belongings in bars and nightclubs, and up the mountains, as thieves are targeting winter gear.
A jacket was stolen from World Bar last Wednesday, 10 July, while a snowboard and two pairs of boots were stolen at Coronet Peak last Friday.
“It’s that time of year when people are wearing warm jackets out, containing valuable personal belongings, passports, phones, wallets and the likes in the pockets, which they remove in the bars,” Haggart says.
“These are easily taken, so please use the ‘secure jacket check-in’, if bars have these, or keep everything together and have someone remain with the property. Don’t leave it unattended.
"In the past we’ve had someone come into a bar, pick up an armload of jackets and walk out.”
She says Police have seen a lot of thefts of snow sports equipment locally lately too.
“The mountains manage it the best they can but there are opportunists out there and if they see a nice board they’ll take it,” she says. “Some of these boards are valuable so lock it up at the rack or keep an eye on it."
Haggart advises people to have identifying features on their gear, so it's not taken accidentally, which can happen too.
Skifield roads targeted
Police Impairment Team officers teamed up with the national Commercial Vehicle Safety Team, in a four-day crackdown across the Otago Lakes area over last weekend.
The crackdown was part of Operation Hannah, named in honour of 11-year-old Hannah Francis, tragically killed when a bus carrying 31 passengers crashed near Tūroa ski field in 2018.
Police focused on skifield roads and commercial vehicle safety, and were also checking for drink drivers. More than 200 commercial vehicles were examined and approximately 1500 breath tests carried out with just one 47-year-old Tauranga driver on a zero-alcohol licence apprehended in Wānaka, blowing a level of 250mcgs.
Icy and alcohol-related crashes
Otago Lakes Area Road Policing Senior Sergeant Steve Watt says police are seeing an increase in traffic crashes due to the extremely icy conditions.
A 20-year-old Queenstown woman was taken to Lakes District Hospital with facial injuries, cuts and bruising, after she lost control in ice and grit on a bend at Sunshine Bay on the Glenorchy-Queenstown Road at 9.50am yesterday, Wednesday, 17 July. Earlier that morning, at 4.05am, a 21-year-old Queenstown man slid on ice and hit two parked cars on Hensman Rd. Alcohol was involved, though. He blew 383mcgs and was issued with an infringement notice. The legal limit is 250mcg.
A 29-year-old Queenstown woman allegedly blew more than three times the limit, at 866mcg, after her vehicle allegedly crossed the centreline on Maori Jack Road at Jack’s Point, crashing into another vehicle at 6.34pm on Tuesday, 16 July. She’s been charged with driving with an excess breath alcohol level. Nobody was injured.
Deer and goat road hazards
Drivers should also watch for animals coming down to road verges to feed during winter. A 66-year-old Queenstown man narrowly avoided injury when he crashed his vehicle into a ditch after swerving to avoid a goat on Gorge Road at 7.30pm last Wednesday, 10 July. A 32-year-old Queenstown man also escaped injury when he swerved to avoid a stray deer on the Crown Range, careering into a barrier just after 10pm on Saturday, 13 July.
Late night assault
Police are keen to locate an unknown offender after a 21-year-old Queenstown male victim was hit in the face, suffering an injury to his nose, after a confrontation with another group in Camp Street at 7.44pm on Saturday, 13 July.
