Kia ora Wanaka. It has been a sad and heart-breaking week for Police around the country as we lost a colleague in such tragic circumstances in Auckland. Our thoughts are most definitely with that Constable’s family and his close colleagues.

It has otherwise been a very busy week for the Wanaka constabulary. There was a spate of nuisance thefts this week, with 3 push scooters and a bicycle stolen from public places. If anyone has come across abandoned scooters, bikes or other property of value, please bring it to the Police Station so we can reunite them with their owners.

It wasn’t a great week on the roads in our area. We attended 3 vehicle crashes and caught 7 people drink driving. The lowlight being a driver who went the wrong way around a round-about and found themselves heading straight towards a Police car. Not what he expected to see during that reckless stunt. What we expect to see are several licences cancelled in the coming weeks as a result of this week’s driving.

Early on Saturday morning, an intoxicated man was unconscious on a suburban street, when he was hit by a slow moving car. This incident could have been far worse, but thankfully there were no serious injuries. However it highlights the risks of not preparing your ride home from town and travelling alone. Falling asleep anywhere on a cold winter night could be harmful, let alone the middle of a road.

Friday and Saturday night were busy in town. It is great to see the public out again enjoying themselves.

One patron took the partying to the next level and created a melee in the Night n Day at 2am on Sunday. He is known to Police and will be having an enforcement visit from us in the coming days. We were very lucky in this instance not to have serious injuries from this unprovoked attack. We can only surmise that this was fuelled by an argument over a thermonuclear pie.

Wanaka Police have had to make 2 arrests in the past week in relation to separate family harm incidents. Arresting members of our community is not what we want, however violence is never ok and on these occasions court action has been necessary. We have been pleased to see friends being supportive and recognising when their friends are in violent relationships and supporting them in coming forward to Police.

There is a continuing trend for Facebook marketplace frauds. With victims in Wanaka and offenders out of town, and vice versa. There is no security in purchasing online when the money is deposited before the goods are received. Please be cautious.

Take extra care on the roads as the ice and snow sets in.

Stay safe out there.