Police deal with lockdown breaches

Senior Constable Kerrin Williams, Senior Constable Ross Greer and Constable Emily Plew carry out...
Senior Constable Kerrin Williams, Senior Constable Ross Greer and Constable Emily Plew carry out an Alert Level 4 lockdown compliance foot patrol in Central Dunedin yesterday. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
A person playing Pokemon Go and a boy-racer meet-up were among several breaches dealt with by Dunedin police on the first day of Alert Level 4 lockdown.

Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said police also broke up a gathering of dirt bike riders at Long Beach on Wednesday.

In other incidents, police were called to a care worker with a youth, who were breaching lockdown at Back Beach.

The person playing Pokemon Go was in John Wilson Ocean Dr.

A 24-year-old man tried through Facebook to set up a boy-racer meeting at the Bayfield Reserve car park.

Police contacted the man, who was "very anti-police".

The meeting was moved to Rotary Park, but the 15 vehicles present dispersed when police arrived.

At 11.24pm on Wednesday, police were called regarding a man dancing on the forecourt of the Z petrol station in Kaikorai Valley Rd.

The 30-year-old had been reported missing from his home earlier in the evening, and he was given a ride home.

At 1.30am yesterday, an unknown man was reported banging on doors and windows at a Dundas St flat. Police searched the area but nobody was found.

The incidents were among hundreds of breaches reported to police nationwide on the first day of Level 4 restrictions.

Police commissioner Andrew Coster said between midnight on Tuesday and 5pm on Wednesday, police received 684 online breach notifications.

About a third of those were from the Auckland area.

In the same period, police carried out more than 2500 tasks relating to Level 4 restrictions, including reassurance visits to essential facilities, patrols, and checks following reports about people, businesses and gatherings possibly in breach.

"We want to ensure people understand that all New Zealanders have a role to play in keeping each other safe, especially given the serious danger of the Delta variant."

Police made five arrests for restriction breaches yesterday.

Police arrested three people in Christchurch allegedly involved in an anti-lockdown protest and two people were arrested in the Far North after refusing to wear a face covering.

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