Wanted hitchhiker jailed after asking police for help following Napier, Gisborne mix-up

A hitch-hiker got more than she bargained for when she came to the Gisborne Police Station looking for help. Photo / Bevan Conley

A hitchhiker looking for a place to rest got her wish after checking into Gisborne's latest hospitality venue, the police station, free of charge.

Although it may not have been in the same comfort which she had envisioned.

Eastern District Police reported a female hitchhiker was dropped off at the Gisborne Police Station on Thursday hoping for help after she wasn't at her intended destination, Napier.

Senior Sergeant Mike Stevenson, of Napier said it appeared the woman may have been on the wrong side of the road when she was picked up outside of Wairoa, and did not discuss her destination with her driver.

Upon arriving is Gisborne she realised she was not in Napier.

Initially staff had been concerned about the woman, and began organising her a meal, a bus ticket and a place to stay.

But after "due diligence" it was discovered that the woman was wanted for buglary and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle in Hawkes Bay.

The woman had got her bed for the night but "perhaps not in the circumstances she was expecting", Stevenson said.

The woman was due to appear in the district court in Gisborne today after her night in the Gisborne police cells.