Hitchhiker took driver for ride

A woman hitchhiker picked up by a Masterton man in Feilding not only seemed to have lost her bearings, but was later accused of helping herself to his cash.

Masterton police received a complaint on Wednesday from the driver who had driven the young woman to Masterton only to discover, after she had alighted from his car, that $30 in cash had gone with her.

Sergeant Bill van Woerkom said police found the woman in a Masterton food outlet where she was charging her cellphone.

She had agreed to being searched and to having her bag searched but no money was found.

The driver who thought he was being a good samaritan by giving the woman a lift was adamant he had taken out $50 from a money machine in Feilding and after spending some put the change, being $36 in notes and coins, in a consul between the two front seats.

On arrival in Masterton, he discovered only six dollars remained.

When the police search failed to find the cash and therefore any evidence to support the alleged theft, the driver told police he would simply put the matter down to experience and not press charges.

Likewise, he vowed to no longer pick up hitchhikers.

Police were not able to justify charging the hitchhiker who denied the theft and made an allegation of her own which was, likewise, taken no further.

Mr van Woerkom said, to add to the confused story, it seemed the hitchhiker's destination was Taumarunui so why she had agreed to a ride from Feilding to Masterton was unknown.

Other than the hitchhiker call-out, Masterton police had a relatively quiet day with two men, one aged 20 and the other 39, apprehended for breaching protection orders in separate incidents, a report of a petrol drive-off from a Masterton service station and two domestic incidents to attend.

Early yesterday morning, a report was received of a fire at the top of Mt Dick, in rural Carterton which was also attended by the Carterton Fire Brigade. It appeared people had been setting off fireworks near the lookout and had caused a small bush fire that was extinguished. Mr van Woerkom said there had been no damage to the lookout and the registration number of a car had been forwarded to police.