Gore police process six for drink-driving at weekend

Relevant offers

Crime

Prisoner spent nine months planning breakout Police raid Filthy Few Motorcycle Club in Tauranga Suppression refused over exploitation images Probe into police conduct in youths' arrest Man back in court after police raid Woman found unconscious at university Ten snapped up in Twizel drug sting Child sex photo case delayed Cash, drugs, weapons seized in 'biggest' bust Renewed hope in Hobsonville RSA attack case

One car, three apparently drunk drivers and an act of goodwill by police were the ingredients for a bizarre series of events that contributed to what has been called a black weekend in Gore.

Gore police processed six drink-drivers between Friday night and yesterday morning, with half recording breath alcohol levels over 1000mcg. The adult limit is 400mcg.

Sergeant Stan Leishman said yesterday it was lucky there was not a serious or fatal crash.

Three drink-drivers were caught behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Galant at the weekend.

The car first came to police attention on Friday night when the driver, a 25-year-old man, returned an alleged breath alcohol level of 613mcg.

Police had the car in their sights again on Sunday morning when they were called to a domestic incident in Mataura. The 21-year-old female driver's alleged breath alcohol level was 648mcg.

Mr Leishman said her three passengers were not sober enough to drive, so he decided to drive the car the 12km back to Gore. The sergeant got behind the wheel but when the car ran out of petrol, outside the Gore racecourse, he took one of the occupants, in a patrol car, to a petrol station.

The wait was too long for one girl, who managed to start the car and drive to Charlton Rd before colliding with an oncoming vehicle, Mr Leishman said. No-one was hurt in the crash.

The 17-year-old driver's alleged breath alcohol level was 1038mcg. The limit for a person her age is 150mcg.

In another twist to the tale, one of the Galant's other passengers was caught drink-driving on Saturday night in another vehicle. The 17-year-old returned a breath alcohol level of 477mcg.

"I don't think they care (about drink-driving)," Mr Leishman said.

He did not believe the group from the Mitsubishi or the other two drink-drivers caught at the weekend were representative of the Gore community. However, they were certainly an indictment on a small element within the community, he said.

In another incident, police followed a trail of water from a burst radiator to find its drunken driver sitting behind the wheel of the overheated and seized Ford Telstar.

The 21-year-old man had hit a bollard at the McDonald's drive-through, bursting the radiator, but had managed to drive 7km before running out of steam. He allegedly had a breath alcohol level of 1197mcg.

And last, but not least, a 28-year-old woman was stopped at 2am on Sunday and returned a breath alcohol level of 1192mcg. She was so intoxicated she had trouble stopping her car, Mr Leishman said.

All the drivers were to appear in the Gore District Court tomorrow.

GALANT TRIO

Friday

6.30pm: Gore – 25-year-old Gore man returns a breath alcohol level of 613mcg.

Sunday

11.30am: Mataura – police called to a domestic incident. 21-year-old Gore woman returns a breath alcohol level of 648mcg.

12.15pm: Gore racecourse – police officer drives car and its three drunk passengers back to Gore but runs out of petrol.

12.35pm: Charlton Rd – 17-year-old girl, with a breath alcohol level of 1038mcg, drives about a kilometre before crossing the centreline and colliding with an oncoming car.

- © Fairfax NZ News