Two of the three men arrested and charged with fighting in Alexandra early on Sunday are army personnel involved in the Exercise Skytrain military training operation, based at the Alexandra airport.
A 19-year-old Palmerston North man, a 20-year-old Auckland man and a 22-year-old Alexandra man would appear in the Alexandra District Court today, Central Otago sub area commander Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk said. Each faced a charge of fighting and the Auckland man also faced a charge of intentional damage.
New Zealand Army spokesman Major John Gordon yesterday confirmed two of the men charged were army personnel who were part of Exercise Skytrain.
About 180 military staff are involved in the exercise, which began on February 27 and will finish on Friday.
Maj Gordon said it was unclear how many military people were involved in the incident which led to the arrests.
The army was supporting the police in its investigation but could not comment on the incident as the matter was before the court.
"If individuals' actions are deemed to be inappropriate, they will be held to account through the court process and we will also manage that internally, and have a number of options available to us," he said.
"I would make the point that I hope this particular issue will not detract from what has been, for us, a successful [training] exercise in Central Otago."
Snr Sgt Kerrisk said two people needed medical treatment as a result of the fight and one of them, an Alexandra man, remained in Dunedin Hospital with fractures to his face.
The police investigation was continuing and more charges were likely, he said.
The incident involved two small groups of young men - one group from Alexandra and the other made up of "out-of-towners".
One of the group had allegedly walked over a parked car in Centennial Ave, damaging the roof, and a fight broke out, during which an Alexandra man received fractures to his face, Snr Sgt Kerrisk said.
The group of locals chased the other group along Centennial Ave and another fight broke out when the groups were in Moa St, he said. During that fight, an Auckland man was hit on the back of his head with a glass, and needed medical treatment.
The injury was not severe enough for the man to be admitted to hospital, Snr Sgt Kerrisk said.
