For a time when people should have been at home, Oamaru police were kept remarkably busy over the weekend.
A slew of alleged crimes, including eight family harm incidents, were reported to police amid the Covid-19 Level 4 lockdown.
Senior Sergeant Jason McCoy, of Oamaru, said the fact police attended a large number of domestic violence-related call-outs showed the lockdown had taken its toll.
"Obviously people being confined together is going to cause some issues. We were hoping it would not happen ... maybe just let things go so they don't erupt into an argument."
Other reported crimes included five burglaries and an attempted burglary.
An intruder was confronted by the occupant of an Airedale Rd property about 11pm on Sunday and at 12.30am yesterday, and two men aged 18 and 21 were charged with theft after being nabbed allegedly loading gravel into a trailer in Horse Range Rd in East Otago.
Police were also forced to abandon a pursuit in Regina Lane that had started in State Highway 1 in north Oamaru at 10.37pm on Sunday.
Snr Sgt McCoy said the crime spree was "extremely disappointing".
"Ninety percent of people are doing what they should be doing and 10% are causing grief."
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Comments
Interested to see how many of the DV incidents included alcohol use. I can’t understand why having alcohol available was considered such an essential item in times of significant increased stress, anxiety and reduced supports able to be accessed. Also the known rates of violence in the context of alcohol use. I hope this has been recorded with each call out DV and other as well as Mental health emergencies