Hoons spark vigilante threat

By Anna Bowden
Furious Bay business owners say they are at breaking point after several hundred youths poured diesel on roads, vandalised property and caused mayhem over the long weekend.
The slippery roads caused a police patrol car to lose traction and collide with a parked car, businesses were left vandalised and roads littered with broken bottles and rubbish.
Police have urged business owners not to take vigilante action but proprietors in Mirrielees and Cross roads near Sulphur Pt have had to put up with graffiti and skid-marks most weekends for the past six months.
The area is one of five main gathering points for groups in cars referred to as "lappers".
But this weekend was probably the worst yet according to couple Ted and Linda Handley, who invested $500 on security cameras and have been staking out their Matamata Motor Trimmers premises in the hope of catching offenders in action.
The couple described Queen's Birthday weekend as "almost like a riot" when they saw a police car lose control on diesel before youths pelted it with bottles.
Mr Handley said lappers had gathered on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
"They're like bees swarming around, you can hear this noise coming. First two of them come, then the others follow," Linda Handley told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"They are drinking, throwing bottles, kids are hanging off cars and utes are going round in circles with kids sitting in the back.
"It's not the boy racers who are causing the trouble, it's the spectators. We're fed up with cleaning the mess up, I think these kids need somewhere to go. "
Windows along the bottom storey of the Handleys' premises have been broken - one had a car battery thrown at it. The couple have not had them fixed, presuming it will recur.
A nearby business owner, who did not want to be named for fear she would be targeted, said people were so tired of the destructive behaviour they would soon intervene personally.
"What annoys me more than anything is the vandalism that goes with it," she said. "There's a lot of anger down here, if they push too far people are going to take the law into their own hands. We are all prepared to get in and do it."
The woman said there had been talk of blocking the late-nighters in by parking trucks across the entrance to Mirrielees Rd.
Saturday employees at Bay Marine often cleaned up broken bottles and rubbish left on Friday nights. Parts manager Mike Sorenson said graffiti was also common. "We're sick of it, something needs to be done. It's beyond a joke."
Traffic Signs, located down an alleyway, reported a car had its rear and driver's side window smashed last week. A set of deck chairs was also stolen.
Across the bridge at Mount Maunganui business Industrial Water Jetting, manager Frank Parnwell has had diesel stolen from his yard during recent months, presumably being used to pour on the road.
"We've got holes in the fences where they've climbed through and then siphoned diesel out of the rigs," he said.
Mirrielees Rd was one of five areas popular among lappers. Others are at Maru St, Lambert Park, Truman Lane and Marine Parade which continued to stretch police resources.
Western Bay's police strategic traffic unit Senior Sergeant Ian Campion confirmed a police patrol car had lost traction on diesel over the weekend and inquiries were continuing to locate the offender who poured it on the road.
A fortnight ago five vehicles were impounded and eight infringement notices issued. This weekend a significant number of infringement notices were also issued, he said.
Mr Campion confirmed patrolling for lappers became a low priority for police when other urgent incidents occurred. "[But] the Western Bay of Plenty are up among the leading areas in the country for prosecutions, and we will continue to focus on the issue.
"On several occasions I have advised business owners and groups not to take vigilante action," he said.
"I would have to ask 'Do parents know what their teenagers are doing? Do they know who they are hanging around with?' There has to be some responsibility taken." He urged the public who see offending vehicles to record registration, make, date, time and type of offence to forward on to police.