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Four people were arrested yesterday after a street brawl in Whakatane saw rival gang members using shop signs as shields and a cafe chair hurled through a store window.
Up to 30 Black Power and Mongrel Mob members were involved in the ruckus, which occurred when local gang members took exception to a visiting gang wearing their patches as they waited for a member's body to be released from a funeral parlour.
Police used pepper spray to contain the fighting in which pieces of wood, a tyre iron and a samurai sword were used.
Senior Sergeant Bruce Jenkins, of the Whakatane police, said the incident was disappointing and had been witnessed by many people, including school students.
"This is yet another example of why gangs shouldn't be tolerated and how they mistakenly think they own their communities," he said.
"Local gang associates have disgraced themselves in this regard in the eyes of the local community."
Mr Jenkins has joined the chorus of people calling for zero tolerance of gangs after the death of Wanganui 2-year-old Jhia Te Tua, who was killed in a gang-related drive-by shooting on May 5.
A witness yesterday was working in a nearby store when her 11-year-old son, who was walking home from school, came running in to alert her.
Although working at the back of the store, she could still hear people "yelling and swearing".
Her son saw men wearing red bandanas and shirts come running across the street. He said they "had weapons and things".
The woman said her son was all right but was talking to Victim Support about the incident as "he's a bit shaken".
Her store had a window smashed. "They picked up a chair from the cafe next door and threw that through it."
Shop street signs were used in the fight, leaving the usually peaceful street in a mess.
"They were using those like shields and they were scattered around along with broken bottles."
Police said further violence was not expected.
