An 11-year-old boy who had been placed in secure care after being caught burgling houses on Tuesday spent yesterday in a police cell - after assaulting one of four people who were looking after him.
The boy had been placed in the care of Child and Youth Services and had gone to what a police spokesman described as "a family home" in Napier.
As well as two people acting as caregivers at the house, two other people were also engaged there as security minders.
But the boy had made it clear he was not intent on sticking around.
Police Youth Services Sergeant Allan Potter said the boy had tried unsuccessfully to evade his carers during the night, but in the morning made an attempt to escape.
When one of his minders, who was wearing glasses, stepped in to detain the boy, the youngster lashed out.
"He has received a cut to the nose," Mr Potter said.
A CYF spokesman said the caregiver was "okay".
Police were called and the boy taken to the only secure place available - a cell at the Napier Police Station.
Mr Potter said the lad was now headed for Auckland, and a specialised secure home.
While his recent burglary pursuits and now an assault charge had been unsettling they were not surprising, Mr Potter said.
A number of children whose parents were effectively "not in the picture", were well known to police.
The boy had not been going to school and his family members were understood to have gang connections.
A string of recent incidents around the CBD during the school holidays had left business owners and members of the public annoyed and shaking their heads over the direction some youngsters were heading in.
Napier woman Robyn Dorday said she watched a group of about six children, aged about 11, on bikes and skateboards, "weaving in and out of traffic and barely missing motorists and pedestrians" this week, and one had approached her to ask for money.
When she refused, she was subjected to offensive gestures by one boy.
"It made me sick to see such behaviour," she said.
The next day she had seen the group again and told one it was dangerous to do what they were doing around traffic.
"All I got back was screaming and yelling, and they rode off down the pavements," she said.
She suspected the parents "hadn't a clue" what their children were up to.
One cafe owner said he had seen youngsters on skateboards barely miss pedestrians, and that the noise they made was unsettling for people trying to relax over a coffee and a snack.
Napier City Council regulatory manager Mike Webster said skateboard use was barred in the CBD, and that after one warning from a council warranted officer the boards could be seized and held for 28 days - with a $20 fee to get them back.
Mr Potter said anyone who was harassed or felt threatened by youngsters cycling or skating around the footpaths should call the police.
"No one has to put up with that - we will have our staff sort it out."
Young offender statistics
* Eastern Police District statistics for 2011 show there were 89 children aged 10 to 13 apprehended for ``acts intended to cause injury''.
* Four children up to the age of 9 were picked up for the same offence.
* Sixty-one children aged 10 to 13 had been involved in burglaries throughout the region last year, and 324 aged 14 to 16.
* Abduction, harassment and other related offences against a person saw 22 youngsters aged 10 to 13 come to police attention and 69 aged 14 to 16.