A tourist had a nasty shock when the wheel fell off his van after someone removed the nuts.
The man had parked his van overnight at Roaring Meg last Wednesday.
When he woke the next morning and drove off, the back right wheel came off. He found the wheel nuts nearby in the grass.
Sergeant Steve Watt says: “Obviously this could cause some serious potential danger if the wheel happens to stay on until he’s actually on the road.
“If it suddenly comes off at speed there are all kinds of pitfalls. It’s a very stupid thing to do.”
Police are appealing for information relating to what is classed as “unlawful interference”.
In another incident, a car had its side windows smashed while parked overnight on Andrews Road on Monday.
Rental car ragged
A 32-year-old Queenstown man faces driving charges after allegedly causing mayhem in a rental car.
The man, who has recently returned home from Australia, was arrested after allegedly driving up and down McDonnell Rd, Arrowtown, at excessive speeds in the vehicle.
“He was located at an address where he was staying and blew 767 micrograms in a breath test,” Watt says.
The driver was arrested at 9.30pm on Monday and charged with drink driving, dangerous driving and also unnecessary exhibition of speed.
Police also arrested another man for drink driving in the early hours of morning that day. The 24-year-old Queenstowner was stopped on Stanley Street at 3.05am. He blew 523 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.
The legal limit is 400.
Gardens vandalised
Twenty water sprinklers were broken around Queenstown Gardens last Thursday night.
The next night, the turf in the garden was torn up by someone on a stolen motorbike.
“About 20 sprinklers were broken – it’s wilful damage but we’ve not arrested anyone yet,” Watt says.
“The motorbike had been unlawfully converted, which means someone took it, used it and then left it. They found the bike in the garden surrounds the next day.”
Both incidents happened overnight. Police are appealing for witnesses.
Number plates pinched
The front and rear registration plates from a Toyota Estima vehicle have been stolen.
The plates were taken while the vehicle was parked in the overload carpark in Lucas Place, by Queenstown Airport. The theft occurred sometime on Friday evening.
There was also a burglary from Bungy Backpackers on the same night. Two travellers had left their window ajar and headed into town. When they returned they found their bag had been stolen, containing their passports, visa card and $100.
Watt says: “If anyone saw someone sneakily putting their hand through the window when they shouldn’t have been sometime after 5pm, we’d like them to contact us.”
Drunk and disorderly
Officers dealing with a drunken woman arrested a man after he couldn’t resist mouthing off.
The 19-year-old male was given a pre-charge warning after being arrested for disorderly behaviour on Rees Street at midnight.
“This chappie decided to stick his oar in while officers were dealing with an intoxicated female,” Watt says. “By the looks of it he was drinking alcohol.”
The woman, who was unable to walk, was also taken back to the station for detox.
The previous night, five Wanaka youths were arrested for breaching the liquor ban.
“They were driving around in a beat-up Ford Falcon causing a nuisance and breaching the liquor ban.
“Two of them were seen to place masking tape on a parked vehicle, but it was not damaged.”
The youths, all aged between 17 and 20 years old, were given pre-charge warnings for breaching the ban.
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