Man arrested following AOS callout

The armed offenders squad was called to a small Coromandel Peninsula town after a man walked towards oncoming traffic armed with a knife, police say.

Police were initially called to a domestic incident at a house on State Highway 26 in Matatoki, 10km southeast of Thames, at about 10am today, Inspector Lou Alofa, of police northern communications, said.

The offender left the address and walked along the highway into the path of oncoming traffic armed with a knife, he said.

He later discarded the knife and went back to the address, allegedly threatening to obtain more weapons, Mr Alofa said.

The armed offenders squad was deployed and cordons established before the man, in his late 30s, was arrested and taken into custody.

The road was open again and delays of up to two hours were expected to clear the backlog of traffic, Mr Alofa said.

- NZPA