Central Otago Police attended several callouts for serious offending in the wider community in the past week, including an assault in Lowburn and an incident in Queensberry, which required the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS).

Senior Constable Graham Perkins said officers arrived in Lowburn to find two women had been assaulted by a man who lived on the same property, and was recording them with his cellphone.

“This matter had stemmed from a tenancy dispute and had developed into a neighbours at war situation.”

The offender then tried to make his way into a house bus on the property from where he had previously been trespassed, to film one of the victims’ son.

Cromwell staff arrived to support Alexandra police officers first on the scene, who had been at a crash in Bannockburn, and the offender was removed from the property and arrested.

The man was charged with various forms of assault, trespass and while at the Cromwell Station also assaulted a police officer. The man was transported to Queenstown where he appeared the following day with very strict bail conditions regarding the property and victims.

Snr Const Perkins said at the same time, Cromwell police were alerted to the Luggate/Queensbury area where a man, who was coming off meth, was intoxicated. 

There were concerns for his and other people’s safety. 

The Dunedin AOS were paged and they attended the address where a quantity of firearms, ammunition and firearm parts were located.

The man was held in custody overnight in Queenstown and appeared in court on various firearm charges. All firearms were seized and the property was re-searched in the morning to ensure nothing was missed.

Snr Const Perkins said Cromwell police completed a 16-hr shift due to the numerous incidents in one day, and backup was also provided by Wānaka for the assault.

On the station front, Senior Sergeant Derek Ealson, who is the officer in charge of the Prevention Team in Alexandra, is heading to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea for 12 months as a policing advisor.

He will be based in one of two bases NZ Police have set up in the region where his policing experience will be used to help local officers.