Busy weekend for Dunedin police: Drink drivers, bar brawls, and burnouts

A man’s booze-fuelled mission to McDonald’s and a drunken bar brawl involving sisters are just some of the incidents that kept Dunedin police busy over the weekend.

At 8.20pm on Sunday, police were called to George St at a McDonald’s where a vehicle had driven up on to the footpath, Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said.

An allegedly intoxicated male had gone inside to make some purchases but failed to do so.

The vehicle then continued along George St and stopped at Moray Pl, Bond said.

The driver, a 32-year-old male, was found in a liquor store on George St.

Bond said the man admitted to drinking before driving, and it was found he had bail conditions not to consume alcohol.

The man attempted to resist arrest, spitting on an officer. He went through the drink driving process at the station and provided a blood sample.

He appeared in court this morning charged with resisting and assaulting police, with further driving charges pending the blood sample results.

Also on Sunday morning, at 2.45am police were called to a disorder event in the Octagon where two women were refusing to leave a bar.

Upon police arrival, one of the women assaulted an officer, biting her on the arm and leaving a “substantial injury”.

Both of the women were arrested.

A 21-year-old female was charged with wounding with intent to injure and disorderly behaviour and will appear in court on Thursday.

Her 19-year-old sister was released with a formal warning, while the injured officer will have blood samples taken as per standard procedure to check for infections.

At 1.10am that same morning, a 20-year-old female was stopped on Cumberland St North for having non-functional rear tail lights. She blew 600mcg and was summoned to appear in court.

At 11.30pm on Saturday, a 28-year-old female driving a Subaru was randomly stopped on Andersons Bay Rd and blew 352mcg. She received an infringement notice.

At 4.40pm on Saturday, a 48-year-old male attempted to avoid a checkpoint on Brighton Rd but was stopped by police down the road, Bond said. He blew 325mcg and received an infringement notice.

At 11pm, a 20-year-old male was reported by members of the public for erratic driving on the Southern Motorway, and had hit the median barrier. He was stopped south of Dunedin on the Allanton-Wahola Highway, and told them he intended to drive to Gore.

He blew 831mcg, resulting in a licence suspension and a court summons, Bond said.

At 11.10pm on Friday, police in Port Chalmers observed a vehicle doing a burnout on George St.

“A 33-year-old male driver told police aid that he needed to cheer up his brother, which is why he did the burnout,” Bond said.

He was under the influence of alcohol and blew 781mcg. His vehicle was impounded, and his licence was suspended for 28 days.

While his brother was “even more intoxicated than the driver”, he was not arrested.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.