Kia ora Wanaka.

As the newest member of the Wanaka police whanau, it is my pleasure to bring you this week’s Crimeline.

There have been a number of vehicle crashes on our roads this week. We ask that you take extra care out there, especially in the early hours as the roads are icy and very dangerous. Please allow yourselves an extra few minutes in the mornings so that your travels are safe. Pay extra attention to the road signs as these are there to help you be safe and negotiate our roads.

Police intercepted a drink driver over the weekend who was seen by a member of the public swerving all over the road, mounting the footpaths and centre pedestrian islands, turning in to carparks thinking they were streets and travelling in excess of the posted speed limit. Police subsequently processed the drink driver who returned an extremely high alcohol result.

Police also responded to a traffic complaint on Cardrona Valley Road where the driver was located and processed for drink driving and returned a positive result for alcohol.

A few of you would have noticed a few more tractors, utes and trucks than usual on the road on Friday. It was pleasing to see that there were no issues during the farmers protest and all went smoothly.

I will take this time to remind you all of the importance to lock up your houses. Police were called to an address in the early hours of the morning when a homeowner awoke to find an unknown person inside their house and asleep on their couch. The person had kindly removed their footwear and socks at the door before walking through the kitchen area to the lounge where they removed their trousers and tucked themselves in between the pillows on the homeowner’s couch.

The homeowner got a horrible fright to find an unknown person inside their house. Upon police arrival the person found was horrified to be told they were at the wrong address and were extremely apologetic.

A reminder to all to keep your eftpos, debit and credit cards safe at all times. There has been a spike in unwanted people getting eftpos, debit or credit card details then having a big spend up leaving victims with a large debt. Please don’t give out your card details and if it looks and feels dodgy, then it is. This is particularly important with online shopping.

To finish off I would like to draw everyone’s attention to road safety and driver behaviour. Please ensure you abstain from using your cell phone while driving, always wear your seatbelt, drive to the conditions and speed limit, don’t drink or take drugs, and drive and comply with the conditions of your driver’s licence.

I look forward to meeting you all while I’m out and about. Mā te wā.