Police conduct a road-side checkpoint on the Hastings-Napier Expressway last Friday. Photo/Warren Buckland
Police conduct a road-side checkpoint on the Hastings-Napier Expressway last Friday. Photo/Warren Buckland
A Wairoa family should expect a post-Christmas visit from the police, after refusing help to get their children safely home.
Eastern District Police said they were investigating what action to take after a group of adults resisted attempts to help provide car seats for children who were not properly restrainedwhen their vehicle was stopped at a Hawke's Bay Expressway checkpoint.
Eastern Police District road policing manager Inspector Matt Broderick said police pulled over a seven-seater Honda Odyssey on Friday night with nine people but found that two children on board were babes in arms and being held without retrains.
"We had a couple of Maori wardens with us and they had their van with child seats in it, so they offered to escort them to Wairoa, which they did.
"They took off in that direction, but we heard later that they threatened the wardens that they would jump out, if they didn't stop somewhere near Napier, Bayview.
"What we will probably do is look at some sort of alternative action through the iwi and see if we can help the family out."
Inspector Broderick said Christmas Day had been a quiet affair on Hawke's Bay roads.
A team of 20 police staff were joined by Fire and Emergency NZ, St John Ambulance, Maori wardens and Roadsafe personnel in a four-hour road safety checkpoint at the start of the Christmas and New Year Holiday period.
Of about 2840 drivers tested for alcohol during the night, 12 face an array of penalties, three would face court action after registering more than 400mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, one opted for a blood test, and eight were hit with instant fines and had demerit points registered against their licences after posting between 250mcg and 400mcg.
