KEY POINTS:
An 8-year-old having a tantrum sparked an abduction alert in Tauranga this morning, after a person saw the girl's father forcing her into a car and thought she was being kidnapped.
Eight police cars combed the city streets after the report of a man pushing a girl into a silver car near Tauranga Primary School at 8.40am.
Officers found the car about an hour later and, after questioning, learned the man was the girl's father.
"A kid had a tantrum on her way to school this morning and she's been taken back home by her dad," Inspector Willie Taylor of police northern communications said.
"They located the vehicle in a street quite close to the school and have spoken to the driver and the little girl, who wasn't having a good Monday."
The man who reported the incident had no cellphone and rushed to Tauranga police station, saying he had seen the girl being forced into the car by her shoulders.
Sergeant John Hicks praised the man for memorising the car's registration.
"At the end of the day, we're after the welfare of the child. We take our hat off to the member of the public who came in and reported it. Better to be safe than sorry," he said.
Mr Hicks said the search was hampered by the fact the registration for the car came back to an Auckland address, but both the girl and her father were Tauranga residents.
