A woman who prevented a possible assault on another woman in Wanaka on Thursday morning, says she just reacted and did not consider her own safety.
Lucy Whitemore was finishing her shift at Fitzpatricks Irish Pub in Wanaka about 1.45am, when she noticed a woman who had been in the bar earlier being followed by a man Miss Whitemore did not recognise.
"She wasn’t with any of her friends and I saw the guy a couple of steps behind her so watched for a while but wasn’t comfortable so ran to make sure she was in trouble."
Once she caught up with the woman she told the man to leave and asked the woman if she needed any help.
She was adamant she did not need help and Miss Whitemore gave her directions to another bar and started to walk back to Fitzpatricks. As she was walking back she noticed the man turn around and start to walk towards the other woman again so Miss Whitemore stopped and ran back to check if the woman was safe.
Not long after she saw the man grab the woman from behind in a bear hug and try to drag her off the side of the road.
"I came out from between the buildings screaming and shouting at him get off her and what are you doing ... I didn’t even consider my own safety."
The man let go of the woman and ran away. Miss Whitemore took the woman back to the bar where she called the police. She described the man as in his as being in his mid-20s to early 30s with dark hair and big round eyes.
He was wearing a black long-sleeved top and black tracksuit bottoms.
Miss Whitemore, a British national, has been in Wanaka for six months and said she did not want to put people off visiting Wanaka or New Zealand.
"I’ve been here six months and absolutely love it ... But sometimes we let our guards down so it was just to make people aware it can happen anywhere."
Wanaka police acting Senior Sergeant Steve Watt said police attended the incident but were unable to find the woman or the man.
"Unfortunately the female who had been picked up had subsequently left the area and we were not able to ... identify or contact her."
Police also searched the area for the male but were also unable to find or identify him.
Bar staff were able to give a very good description of the male but no CCTV footage captured the pair, Snr Sgt Watt said.
"This sort of thing is very out of character for Wanaka."
If anyone had any information about the incident they should contact the Wanaka police station.
