Couch fires, fireworks, and multiple parties caused headaches for Dunedin police as people celebrated the first weekend of Level 2 with a bang.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said police were called to three parties within three hours on Saturday night, all of which breached the 10-person gathering rule.
Despite the southern shenanigans, police said the number of breaches nationwide had dropped since the end of Level 3.
At 8.40pm a party of 15-20 people in Leith St was broken up, followed by a 30-person party 20 minutes later in Cumberland St.
Then, at 10pm, a party of 40-50 people in London St was shut down.
Police also received reports of a group of youths shooting fireworks at Balmac Intermediate buildings — and each other — at 10.15pm.
A group of youths was located and spoken to, but they denied involvement and had no fireworks in their possession, Snr Sgt Dinnissen said.
Two men were also spotted by Campus Watch lighting a couch on fire in the middle of Leith St.
The pair disappeared before police arrived, and were later found hiding under flax bushes on the bank of the Water of Leith.
There were no new cases of Covid-19 announced yesterday, taking the number of days with no new cases in the South to 30.
There was still one remaining active case in the area.
Speaking at the daily media conference yesterday, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said there had been a significant drop in the number of Level 2 breaches, compared with transgressions during Level 3.
Mr Coster said police had had about 250 to 350 reported breaches per day in Level 2 compared with the 700 to 1000 they had in Level 3.
There had been 983 breaches reported in Level 2, mostly through the 105 phone line.
About 700 of those complaints were against businesses and 250 for mass gatherings.
Police took action on 30 breaches; 29 resulted in warnings and one person was being prosecuted, Mr Coster said.
