Waiouru Police File

Ruapehu Bulletin, 20 August 1991, Page 14

Waiouru Police File

BY

CHRIS

SCALES

• Over Wednesday night or Thursday morning, 15 or 16 August, offenders gained entry into the Spacies Video Parlour on the Main Road and removed money from the till. It is beiieved that those responsible may have been disturbed or seen as they didn't have enough time to 'really go shopping'. Anyone who may have seen something suspicious over this period, is asked to contact the police. Police and other emergency services have attehded a number of accidents over the last two weeks, all of them involving injuries. • On 9 August, a vehicle with five occupants lost control about

2 km west of Waiouru on State Highway 49, and crashed over a bank. One person suffered minor injuries and was treated at the Waiouru Hospital. The following morning, a vehicle with two Chinese tourists crashed in the vicinity of the railway crossing south of Waiouru, with one occupant suffering minor injuries. • Last Monday a spectacular crash occurred about 3 pm on the Desert Road by the Waihohonu Stream bridge, 30 kilometres from Waiouru, in which a vehicle carrying four occupants slid in the gravel on the road and went over a 45 metre cliff landing in the river below. The vehicle was totally destroyed but the

occupants managed to clamber up the cliff where a passing motorist found them. Emergency services from Waiouru and Turangi tumed out and all four occupants were taken to Taumarunui Hospital with injuries ranging from minor to moderate. We were all utterly astounded how these people survived this crash, and by rights they all should have been killed. • Another accident occurred the following day at about the same time in the same place. An elderly gentleman travelling north lost control of his vehicle and collided into a bank. He suffered minor injuries and was treated by ambulance staff at the scene.

• About 8.30 pm on Saturday night, a vehicle travelling towards Waiouru on State Highway 49 lost control and collided into a bank writing off the vehicle. The sole occupant did not suffer any injuries. • One person was arrested and five others prosecuted for drinkdriving offences during the last two weeks. All have appeared in Court and now find themselves without licences. Several more are facing Court action next month on similar charges. • Waiouru has already shown the way for the rest of the country by imposing crime prevention methods, such as the curfew, that we are a community that will not tolerate

criminals and criminal offences. Other communities around the country are now considering adopting the same sort of tactics in order to get their crime rate down. Let's also show the rest of the country that we are a community that does not drink and drive.