Police Notebook: Missing boy, 5, found swiftly

The following incidents were reported to Rotorua police during the past few days:

The parents of a Rotorua 5-year-old spent an agonising 45 minutes looking for their son after he disappeared while they were out for a walk.

Senior Sergeant Dennis Murphy of the road policing unit said the boy was riding a bike along the footpath ahead of his parents on Pretoria St last Tuesday.

He went around a corner and when his parents caught up, they couldn't see him.

Police happened to be on Malfroy Rd and the distressed parents let them know they couldn't find the child.

Mr Murphy said cordons were quickly set up, a police dog dispatched and preparations were being made to contact the media.

However, the boy was found 45 minutes later after he had made his way back to his home on Manuka Cres.

Mr Murphy said it was timely to remind parents and caregivers to always keep watch of their young children.

Tickets for slow drivers

Several tickets have been issued to drivers in the past week for driving too slowly.

Mr Murphy said motorists towing caravans and trailers were found to be travelling unnecessarily slowly, resulting in long lines of traffic behind them.

Mr Murphy said slow drivers often caused frustration to other drivers, resulting in some making risky manoeuvres to get past.

Burglars target streets

Residents in Hillcrest and Utuhina are being advised to keep their properties secure and their valuables out of sight after burglars have been targeting the areas.

Senior Sergeant Denton Grimes said houses in Jervis St and Manuka Cres in Hillcrest and Kahu St in Utuhina had been hit by burglars in the past week.

Drunken brawls broken up

Police were called to two separate incidents of drunken disorder in Rotorua's central city at the weekend.

Mr Grimes said the two incidents were late on Saturday night and early Sunday morning and involved drunk people fighting on Arawa St.

He said it was a busy night in the central city bars on Saturday and the fights unnecessarily tied up police resources which could have instead been working to prevent crime.

"It's a timely reminder to make sure people are drinking responsibly when they are going out."