Residents near a reserve and path between two Napier suburbs say enough-is-enough after an early-morning assault which they believe could have been prevented if authorities heeded concerns about safety in the area.
The assault on a young woman was reported to have happened near the Onekawa end of a path connecting
Riverbend Rd and Russell Rd in neighbouring Marewa. She was walking home from a party early on Sunday.
When he read of the incident, Russell Rd resident Paul Ash had only just heard of another incident in which disabled friend Peter Sykes was harassed and chased by what Mr Sykes called "a young thug," through an alley at the Russell Rd end of the path.
Mr Ash said while he had lived in the area just two years, he was aware there had been numerous incidents over the years, most significantly, the mid-afternoon teenage gang bashing and robbery of a man in January last year.
"When I heard about this latest incident, I thought 'I've had enough of this'," he said.
He believes the path is one of the busiest of a network connecting Napier suburbs, some of which have been closed because of violence and tagging problems.
Potential offenders take advantage of the isolation of parts of the path, and are on the look-out for victims, and "pick-on" people, he said.
He doesn't envisage closing the alley at the centre of his concerns, because it is used by hundreds each day, from schoolchildren, to other residents, and visitors to the Kennedy Park holiday complex adjacent to the alley.
And other measures, such as CCTV security surveillance could be an option.
Napier CIB head Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Reid said investigation into Sunday morning's incident was "ongoing." Police were trying to identify a youth, described as tall, thin, Maori and aged about 16, wearing a white T-shirt around Riverbend Rd.
