At a time when people should have been at home, police in one small South Island town were kept remarkably busy.
A slew of alleged crimes, including eight family harm incidents, were reported to police in Oamaru over the weekend in the middle of 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 on Monday, 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."
