Cops stop for icecream, with prisoners in van

One scoop or two?

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THE heat on the beat got too much for these police officers – who parked up on a yellow line and headed off for an ice cream, leaving two prisoners in the back of their van.

Sunday News spotted the officers taking an unscheduled break in busy Mission Bay, Auckland, on their way to court.

They bought double scoops while an impatient prisoner inside the van rocked it from side to side telling them to hurry up because he did not want to be late for his hearing. The two prisoners in the van were not offered a cone.

A Sunday News staff member said: "We were amazed when we saw the officers standing by the side of the road dishing out ice creams while the van was parked illegally on a busy road. The guy stuck inside didn't seem very happy about it either."

A police spokeswoman said later: "The officers who stopped enroute to buy themselves refreshments will be spoken to and advised that, wherever possible, they should not unnecessarily delay the processing of prisoners and that their actions were regrettable."

The paddywagon, with a plainclothes police officer at the wheel, had driven around a packed car park at the popular beach on Wednesday afternoon. He couldn't find anywhere to park so pulled up on the yellow lines. The officer told the prisoner to be patient but the growing commotion attracted the attention of passersby. They looked on bemused as a uniformed policeman and policewoman returned with ice creams. They were handed out and they parked up for at least 10 minutes. The police spokeswoman told Sunday News: "Four staff who had been on foot patrol in the area stopped in a car park, while enroute to Auckland Central Police Station, to buy ice creams. There were two prisoners in the van who had been arrested shortly beforehand, one for breaching his bail conditions and one who was wanted on warrant for failing to appear in court. Both young men appeared in the Auckland District Court to face their charges."

Deputy PM Bill English's aides will be fined after parking illegally while he had a haircut. His limo was over yellow lines and his security guards partially had their car over a mobility parking zone in Wellington for nearly an hour on Thursday.

- © Fairfax NZ News