Rule-breaker calls police for a ride

Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said a 48-year-old woman called police from Port Chalmers multiple times from 10pm on Sunday, not making much sense.

In a later call, she claimed she was a victim of an offence at the address.

"Police attended and female advised she needed a ride home to Dunedin and the offence she reported was historic and simply claimed this so she could get a lift from Port Chalmers in to town."

The woman admitted breaking lockdown rules to drink and smoke cannabis with her friend.

Police stop traffic in Portobello in Covid-19 Alert Level 4 yesterday. Senior Constable Aaron Smith said most people were good to deal with, but he had spoken to some cyclists who were travelling from Dunedin in breach of lockdown restrictions. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH

Police also caught several people driving long distances without acceptable reasons.

At 1.30am Sunday, a car driven by a 28-year-old Palmerston man was pulled over in Magnet St.

Two people from Oamaru, a 26-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man, were also in the car.

They told police they had driven from Oamaru to pick up the 34-year-old after his vehicle broke down, and ended up in Magnet St after a wrong turn.

All three were warned, and their car was followed by police until they got back on to the Northern Motorway.

The same morning, a 53-year-old man driving a camper van was stopped on the Caversham bypass of the Southern Motorway.

He had driven from Christchurch and was heading to a camping ground in Invercargill.

He was told to stay in Dunedin until travel was allowed.

Police also caught people driving from Dunedin to Lawrence, Waihola and Aramoana.

A series of checkpoints were conducted at the weekend.

At 4pm on Sunday, police checked between 80 and 100 vehicles in Ravensbourne Rd.

There was about 80% compliance, Snr Sgt Dinnissen said.

One man who had been renovating his rental property in the city before returning to Port Chalmers initially denied breaching the rules, but "the fresh paint gave away the ruse".

There was also a checkpoint in Mosgiel, which about 250 cars went through, and one at East Taieri, at which about 60 cars were stopped in about 45 minutes.

About a quarter of people stopped had dubious reasons for travel, Snr Sgt Dinnissen said.

That included someone driving across town to get board games, a woman who drove from Port Chalmers to South Dunedin to have tea with her mother, and people out for a drive.

One man who had previously been issued a lockdown infringement notice was caught at another checkpoint; initially he could not tell police where he was staying, before finally giving an East Taieri address.

He told police he had just come back into the country and had been in managed isolation in Auckland.