Te Puke police report

Three men have been charged with drink-driving offences.

A spate of thefts of trailers, diggers, utes and tractors has befallen the rural area around Te Puke in recent weeks.

During the first weekend of August, there were five incidents.

Following inquiries, three people were arrested last Friday in relation to these incidents to help with inquiries. Two have been remanded in custody.

All three men are local and aged 40, 41 and 44.

The 40-year-old has been remanded in custody until October and, among other things, has been charged with assault and receiving stolen property.

The 44-year-old, also remanded in custody, is facing six charges including burglary and unlawfully getting into a vehicle.

The 41-year-old has been released on bail and is facing three charges.

More charges are possible.

It is timely to remind the rural community to ensure orchard and farm machinery is as secure as possible using a combination of wheel clamps, steering wheel locks, removing keys and having security lighting, which is a good deterrent.

Shoplifting arrest

A 39-year-old local man was arrested this month after a considerable amount of behind-the-scenes work to identify him.

He now faces 19 charges including some relating to shoplifting across five stores in Te Puke, plus some driving-related matters.

He has been remanded in custody for a future court date.

Warning ignored

Three men are regretting not taking police advice on Sunday after tanking up before driving.

A short time after 8am on No3 Rd in Te Puke, three men in three vehicles were driving while intoxicated after being previously spoken to by police and warned not to drive after drinking alcohol.

Alarmingly, police had stopped and spoken directly to the three men who were sitting in a liquor ban area in Centennial Park and told them to tip their alcohol out.

They were then told not to drive their vehicles, which were parked nearby.

The officers warned the men police would be watching them.

Police stopped them a short time afterwards, each of them driving their own vehicles.

Two of the men were issued infringement offence notices and the third man, who blew nearly 800mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, was charged with excess breath alcohol and will appear in court at a later date.

We want everyone to have a good time, but not at the expense of putting yourselves or others at risk.

Have a pre-plan to get home safely, have a charged phone, so you can book an Uber, taxi, or call a friend to come and get you.

Drinking and driving is dangerous and can have disastrous consequences, and it’s infuriating to know these men were spoken to only a short time earlier and were explicitly warned by our staff.

We see too many preventable deaths on our roads, and we make no apology for targeting these high-risk driving behaviours including restraints, impairment, distractions, and speed.

Our aim is to prevent tragic consequences on our roads, not to issue the most infringements.