A Bay of Plenty man has become the sole person prosecuted for failing to comply with alert level 2 restrictions since most of New Zealand shifted out of lockdown.
The man's arrest came after the country, except Auckland, moved from alert level 4 and into level 2 at 11.59pm on Tuesday.
A police spokeswoman said a man had been prosecuted following an alleged incident on Wednesday afternoon at Rotorua Central Mall.
Police claim the man was not wearing a mask and that he was unable to provide an exemption. The man also allegedly refused to put a mask on when asked to do so by a security guard.
The spokeswoman said the man was asked to put on a mask or leave but he allegedly refused to do either. When the man was approached by police, he allegedly refused to give identifying details and was subsequently arrested.