Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Police inquiry into five indecent assaults hinges on community help

By Anneke Smith
Reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
10 Nov, 2017 08:54 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Police are investigating a series of indecent assaults in Hawke's Bay. Photo File

Police are investigating a series of indecent assaults in Hawke's Bay. Photo File

Police last night arrested a 29-year-old Napier man for the indecent assault of a woman in Burns Road on Sunday morning.

The 29-year-old man was due to appear in Hastings District Court this morning on a charge of indecent assault.

They are continuing to investigate other, similar attacks on women around the Hawke's Bay area, and have yet to establish if there are connections between them

Police are appealing to anyone with operating CCTV cameras in the areas where five women were assaulted in the space of one week to come forward.

An investigation into the five indecent assaults against women in Napier, Taradale and Havelock North this month is ongoing as police work to determine if there is a connection between the incidents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hawke's Bay area commander Inspector Dave Greig said information provided by the community was critical to advancing the investigation.

"To date we've had a very pleasing response from the community to our appeals for information. We are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who may have CCTV cameras operating in the vicinity of the offence locations."

The offending was concerning and police were working hard to investigate the incidents, with a significant focus on establishing if there was any connection between them, he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"This investigation is a priority for Hawke's Bay police and is being resourced accordingly by a team of very focused and capable investigators."

Last Friday inquiry head Detective Sergeant Jason Crow of the Hawke's Bay CIB announced a team of detectives were investigating several indecent assaults in Hawke's Bay.

Three days later police were investigating a further two incidents after women in Napier and Havelock North were indecently assaulted in public places on Sunday morning.

A woman walking with her children on Burns Rd in Napier at about 8.45am was approached by a young man and indecently assaulted by him, before he ran away towards Battery Rd.

Following this at about 9.55am a woman walking on Iona Rd in Havelock North was also indecently assaulted by a young man who ran away down Breadalbane Rd.

Schools have not been immune to the offending either with two students reporting being grabbed by a man in separate, back-to-back incidents almost two weeks ago.

On the afternoon of November 1 a Woodford House student was out running with a friend when she was reportedly grabbed by a young, well-dressed male as they ran past him on Palmerston Rd, Havelock North.

The next morning a Napier Girls' High student reported being grabbed from behind while walking to school on the Harvey Rd steps that link to Sealy Rd on Bluff Hill, Napier.

Earlier this week police released CCTV footage of a "person of interest" in the investigation into the indecent assault on Burns Rd, Napier.

Information had been received from the community about the man in the footage and the investigation team had followed up, Mr Greig said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said the appeal for information was still ongoing.

Under the Crimes Act the maximum penalty for indecent assault is seven years' jail time.

Police advised those walking alone at night to keep to well-lit areas, keep bags with valuables close to the body, keep cellphone at hand, walk on the gutter-side of footpaths and facing oncoming traffic.

"If you are approached by a man in a manner such as this, try to shout and scream, because the more noise you make, the more people will notice.

"If you become a victim, ring 111 as soon as you can, and if you think you've witnessed any suspicious behaviour within the Napier Hill, Taradale or Havelock North areas over the last month or so, please don't hesitate to call police," Mr Crowe said.

People with information can ring Hawke's Bay CIB on 06 211 3872 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if they wish to remain anonymous.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Some roads remained blocked.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP