Armed police surrounded a house in Koutu for more than an hour looking for a wanted man but failed to find him.
Members of the Rotorua Armed Offenders Squad surrounded the house on Koutu Rd, near the skate park, about 4pm today and made pleas over a loud hailer for the man to come out.
![Photo/Stephen Parker](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/O2ZEMGW2LQOWTQY4SAKNWINB6E.jpg?auth=e1f19082601fc20402fb9e766431154b9edf18ef3cee18dfa493b14113c7abae&width=16&height=9&quality=70&smart=true)
Locals said the police were telling the man to come out because they had a search warrant.
For more than an hour Koutu Rd was blocked off to traffic and locals were kept from their nearby homes.