Busy weekend for city’s police

Drink-driving and a series of minor disorder events and disturbances occupied police in Dunedin over the weekend.

Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said police responded to three drink-driving incidents on Saturday.

• A 47-year-old-man will appear in the Dunedin District Court after he was spotted running a late orange light in Macandrew Rd at 1.45pm on Saturday, and subsequently stopped by police. A roadside breath-test recorded 833mcg, more than double the legal driving limit.
• Police were called to a crash at 5pm on Saturday in which a car was driven through an orange light in Andersons Bay Rd and collided with a second car, driven by a learner driver, as it turned into Andersons Bay Rd. A third car which was stationary was hit. There were no injuries.
• A 23-year-old man was stopped in Stuart St at 2.30am on Saturday after he was spotted driving without lights on. He recorded a breath alcohol level of 559mcg and had a blood sample taken.
• Earlier on Saturday, three men, two aged 22 and one aged 23, were apologetic after police found them inside St Dominic's Priory in Smith St, just after 2am. The men said they believed the property was abandoned and were curious as to what was inside. They said they had entered through a window which was already broken. All three were issued formal warnings.
• Two 13-year-olds and one 14-year-old were returned home and police spoke to their parents after the teenagers were found in Shand St at 3am on Saturday. The youths had been knocking on doors and looking into cars for an hour.
• At 10.15pm that night, a 20-year-old man was stopped by police in Rattray St after the car he was driving was earlier rammed into another car, which was then chased around South Dunedin.
• About the same time the occupant of a North East Valley house called police, reporting a man had walked into the house ‘‘looking for his cellphone’’. The 25-year-old, who was intoxicated, left the house in Crown St after being asked to leave by the occupant, but continued to knock loudly on the door, threatening to ‘‘smash it down’’, Snr Sgt Dinnissen said. Police gave the man a warning and took him home.
• A 21-year-old man was trespassed from the Octagon Night’n’Day about 12.30am after security noticed him stuffing a pie into his pants.
• Officers were then called to a flat party in Lincoln St, in Halfway Bush, after reports of party-goers spilling out on to the street, and fighting. When police arrived they found a 22-year-old woman and 23-year-old man engaged in a loud argument, with friends holding the pair apart. The party was shut down, and the 23-year-old man was arrested in connection with disorderly behaviour and obstruction.
• For the second weekend in a row, officers had to talk to a person after what appeared to be a gun was waved around. This time it was discovered what the 19-year-old had been waving around at passers-by from a car in George St just after 3am on Sunday was a plastic toy.