Northland locals breathe easier

With this morning's arrest in the search for fugitive Nathan Fenton, residents around Russell, Rawhiti and Ngaiotonga were able to breathe a little easier today.

Dave Clarke of Rawhiti said he knew of some locals whose friends and family had invited them to stay outside the area until the wanted man was caught.

Yesterday, while the search was still at its height he said "people are very worried and they have every right to be because it's a laid- back little area we enjoy out here".

He said police had been "very vigilant" and had thoroughly searched the Rawhiti area. "I've never seen so many police in my life," he said.

Tony Vaughan, of Jack's Bay, said he had to pass a police cordon to get to Russell, and police had come knocking at his home in a door-to-door search.

Charles Wilson, of Okiato Rd, said he lived near an area known as "Cannabis Castle" but he'd never seen anything on the scale of this week's police operation. "My wife and I have stopped going for walks, and so have a lot of other people. This feels like South Auckland."

Oakura Bay Stores owner Nina Rogers said people had been "pretty uptight", and children had been frightened when they ended up in a lock-up situation at their schools on Tuesday.

Oakura Bait and Tackle store owner Tim Bowman said the manhunt had been the big topic of discussion of the past two days.

Yesterday, he told the Northern Advocate "everybody's a bit nervous, but they have confidence that the police know what they're doing. Sooner or later he'll stick his head up and they'll get him."

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE