A young Tauranga family with a newborn said they were terrified as hundreds of youths partied and brawled in their street on Saturday night.
What began as a private Halloween party on Victory St, Welcome Bay, escalated into a large-scale disturbance, spilling into nearby streets and driveways as youths converged on the suburb.
“We’re both in our 30s and not the types to get intimidated, yet we were genuinely scared. Things ramped up so fast,” said Alex, who did not want her full name used for safety reasons.
“I have a new baby, and we felt incredibly unsafe. We stayed awake until 4am watching kids sneak around next to our property.”
She described the night as “a total disaster”.
”The level of disrespect shown by literally hundreds of teenagers was disgusting.”
Alex said it took about two hours from their first call to police at 10pm before the street was cleared.
“During that time, we were just watching as it got crazier and crazier, thinking, ‘When is this going to stop?’”
Her first call to police reported fireworks being set off and aimed at houses.
“Things were going pretty nuts,” she said.
Half an hour later, the situation escalated.
“Kids were coming into our driveway, using the neighbour’s as a toilet. Their attitude when we confronted them was appalling.
“We thought, ‘Okay, this is getting dodgy’, so we called police again to say we were feeling really unsafe.”
By 10.45pm, they rang a third time.
“We were shaky at that point, saying, ‘Kids are coming up the driveway.’ Police told us, ‘Just go inside.’”
The most frightening moment came about 11pm.
“That big fight was when we went from ‘this is dramatic’ to ‘this is really scary’,” Alex said.
“One boy was in the middle of at least five or six others beating him on the pavement, with 80 or 90 kids swarming around.”
She called police again.
“It was another hour between that fight and the shutdown. When it gets to that point, you know it needs to be stopped quickly.”
It wasn’t until about midnight that police dispersed the party.
“We saw at least 12 to 15 officers, a couple of dogs, and four or five cars – it was a major sweep,” she said. “But we didn’t get a follow-up. No one came and saw us.”
Alex later read that police had initially been dealing with disorder further down the street.
“It did take them a while to co-ordinate because it was a pretty mega group of officers that pitched up,” she said.
She was disappointed by the lack of communication.
“We didn’t get any updates – no ‘we’re on our way’ or ‘we’re taking this seriously’. Having said we felt unsafe and that people were on our property, no one actually came to see us.
“Fortunately, things didn’t escalate further, but I do feel someone should have checked in.”
Alex believes the night began as an innocent private Halloween party.
“The girl who organised it came over earlier in the day to let us know. They’ve had one before – just a normal, loud but fine teenage party. I genuinely think it just got completely out of hand. I don’t think anyone could have planned for what it turned into.”
By early Sunday morning, some partygoers were already helping clean up, followed by a council street sweeper.
“Neighbours were out picking up bottles; it was a community effort. This is a very nice, normally quiet street – that’s why we moved here,” Alex said.
“This was just a freak ‘something’s gone horribly wrong’ kind of event.”
Her dog-shaped letterbox, which her husband made by hand, was also smashed.
Another resident, who also asked not to be named “because there were so many violent people”, said the scale of the party was shocking.
“It was the biggest out-of-control party I’ve seen – at least 200 to 300 people all over the street. It was absolutely insane.
“The entire road was covered in smashed glass, and there were large fights. Police took hours to arrive. I called multiple times because people were being kicked on the ground during fights.”
When police did arrive, they moved in from the Langstone St end of Victory St, the witness said.
“They set up near Holmburn St, then formed a line with police officers, a dog, and patrol cars, pushing the crowd back toward James Cook Drive.”
Police confirmed they are investigating the disorder.
A spokesperson said police received multiple reports of a large group of people on Victory St about 9.40pm.
“As Police we must prioritise our demands with calls for service. Police will prioritise events based on risk, and attendance or non-attendance, will reflect that risk.
“In this case, while we were unable to respond immediately due to another serious disorder incident, we gathered appropriate resources, attended the scene and dispersed the crowd.”