Police are asking for information including CCTV or video following an arrest being made at an illegal street racing incident in Tauranga early Sunday morning.
One person has already been taken into custody following dangerous driving, and a pedestrian was taking to hospital after being hit by a car.
On Saturday night police responded to reports of around 300 cars driving dangerously as well as antisocial road user behaviour.
The cars had gathered on State Highway 36 causing the highway to become blocked.
The large gathering was dispersed, and Police say they relocated themselves to the intersection of Welcome Bay Road and Welcome Bay Link Road. Fireworks were also let off above the gathering.
Tauranga residents report that cars were also at both the Fifteenth Ave traffic lights doing skids with their wheels and blocking the Eleventh Ave and Cameron Road intersection
At the Welcome Bay Link Road, police spiked one of the vehicles and apprehended the driver.
"One person was taken into custody charges are being considered,' says a police spokesperson.
Police report that one of the vehicles collided with a pedestrian and they were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The vehicles were dispersed around 2.30 am.
Hundreds of cars converging on Welcome Bay Link Road early Sunday morning. Photo: Christine Hughes.
"Police are following lines of enquiry including reviewing CCTV and have not ruled out further arrests or action," says a police spokesperson.
"The reckless driving behaviour of a small group of individuals presents a danger to themselves and to other road users and we continue to monitor, investigate, and hold offenders to account."
Police say where they can, they will deploy staff to monitor areas where this activity is happening.
Police request community contact Police immediately on seeing illegal street-racing
"It's important that people with concerns about illegal street-racing behaviour contact Police as soon as possible with as much detail as possible – including number plates and descriptions if it is safe to do so,' says a police spokesperson.
"If officers are not able to attend the area immediately, this detail is helpful for those follow-up enquiries.
"We welcome any information which may assist us with our enquiries, which can include CCTV or video."
Police say these enquiries can and do result in enforcement action.
"We understand it can be frustrating to be witness to this type of behaviour, however we ask members of the public do not get directly involved."
If you witness antisocial driving behaviour, call 111 immediately, or to report an incident after the fact, please call 105.
Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
"If you are able to go online to 105 and file a report saying you are wanting to provide information and provide the video that way, would be appreciated."
At the scene?
Phone 0800 SUNLIVE or email newsroom@thesun.co.nz
7 comments
Hmmm
Posted on 23-04-2023 15:28 | By Let's get real
I think that I saw them beginning to gather in the Lakes shopping centre carpark at about 3.15pm on Saturday afternoon. So they were out there for many hours. Probably have some cctv at the mall of the early arrivals standing around talking.
Welcome
Posted on 23-04-2023 17:35 | By Potofstu
To the labour led utopian society. No one will be held accountable and well will spend millions and millions of dollars on the words of the day . Wrap around support
Brainless Morons!!
Posted on 24-04-2023 10:10 | By The Professor
What a bunch of brainless morons. Like Potofstu, I have little faith that anyone will be held accountable for this. Where were the Police!!?? I hope that when the culprits are caught, that they are made to pay for the repairs to the road....or if they can't pay, that their parents are made to do so. We also need some examples setting here - crush the vehicles involved, fine the people involved, ban them from driving for two years (and if caught driving whilst disqualified, send them to prison). Crime has got completely out of hand in NZ. I reckon Australia will see more and more Kiwis head their way now - better pay and a Police force and Court system that punishes. Put this behaviour into perspective - the NZ Police will stop you doing 1k over the limit but won't tackle this sort of behaviour.
This behaviour is unacceptable
Posted on 24-04-2023 14:41 | By oceans
Many more drivers should have been arrested. If this happened in Australia they would have. Cars should have been ceased , crushed and the culprits fined heavily. The same people probably drive in a dangerous manner during normal driving. The Labour Government needs to get HARD on bad driving behaviour. New Zealand needs a lot more police on the roads, in both plain and marked cars together with more road cameras. I am afraid that New Zealand is too soft with crime and has been for a long time. Political parties always talk about being tough with crime but I have yet to see it. I will vote for the party that shows it;s sharks teeth over crime rather than false teeth.
Noticeable increase in this recently.
Posted on 24-04-2023 16:10 | By morepork
Even in "quiet areas" of the city, there have been cases of hoons using quiet back streets at all hours of the morning. By the time the Police can arrive they are gone, and so quite often this behaviour is not reported. We probably need more road bumps, but nobody likes those so it is difficult to know what to do. I have been considering flash photography of the cars concerned, but that is also dangerous if someone is blinded and crashes. I guess the flash might serve as a deterrent if they know their rego has been taken. I'm not sure wheher this is increasing because they are gtting away with it, or because of some other, deeper, reason.
@Oceans
Posted on 25-04-2023 16:13 | By morepork
I loved your metaphorical shark's teeth over false teeth... :-) The current government HAS been far too soft and the problem is that the bad guys see restraint as weakness. The government has been politically motivated by their coalition partners to take a softer stance on crime because a disproportionate amount of it is committed by Maori. Instead of addressing the reasons for this, and effectively lowering the number of Maori in prison, with solutions that recognize culture and work at source, it is easier to just take a soft line in the Courts. An ethnicity with 16% of the population, represents 53% of male prisoners and over 60% of females. Despite spending $98 million to address this, the figures have worsened. Family violence and "bash" culture have also increased in this sector. These are sad facts that show we have failed to really grasp and solve these problems.
ANPR
Posted on 25-04-2023 18:03 | By 3 eyed crow
So many ANPR cameras in all of the areas/intersections these losers occupied. Don't ask for the public's help when you can simply access these cameras, and visit every single car owner that was present. How long must we suffer these parasites, while the police claim their hands are tied?
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