KEY POINTS:
Four people mourning one of the country's Easter weekend road toll victims have been arrested following reports of vandalism and disorder around the crash site.
Graham Livemore, 27, of Beach Haven, died when the stolen motorcycle he was riding smashed into a brick wall on Eskdale Rd in
Glenfield shortly before 4am on Good Friday.
Mr Livemore's death was among five crashes nationwide which left the holiday road toll standing at eight last night - two greater than the entire holiday weekend last year. The road toll period ends at 8am tomorrow.
The scene of the Glenfield smash has been turned into a small shrine strewn with flowers, photographs and empty liquor bottles. RIP messages are written in marker pen around the brick wall and tribute notes have been tagged and spray-painted on the roadside and nearby lamp-posts and street signs, upsetting some locals.
A nearby resident said she called police when she saw people tagging the area about 4pm on Sunday.
Senior Sergeant Chris Powell of North Shore police told the Herald that four people had been arrested following four phonecalls to police which stemmed from the roadside vigil.
"The friends of the dead motorcycle rider have been gathering at the scene of the crash to mourn his passing," Mr Powell said,
"But instead of a silent dignified vigil, unfortunately it's degenerated into loutish, offensive, disorderly, intoxicated behaviour."
People gathering and drinking at the site had blocked the footpath, intimidating residents, he said.
Mr Powell said a man was arrested for breaching his bail after police broke up a gathering about 4pm on Sunday.
The group then moved to a nearby home and a party was broken up which ended in three disorder-related arrests about 10pm.
"They're not really letting this guy go with any dignity," he said.
"We're not going to tolerate any further bad behaviour."
Police estimate that Mr Livemore was doing about 80km/h at the time of the crash.
North Shore area commander Inspector Les Paterson said officers on their way to attend a burglary passed Mr Livemore seconds before the crash.
They were travelling in a patrol car with flashing lights and had decided not to pursue Mr Livemore because of the high priority of the job they were attending and the fact they believed they would not have been able to find him as he was going too fast.
One witness told police they heard a motorcyclist accelerating loudly before the collision and it was possible Mr Livemore believed the officers had been chasing him, Mr Paterson said.
Police would be conducting forensic examinations to see if anyone else was involved in the theft of the motorcycle, which was stolen from Herne Bay earlier this month.
EASTER TOLL
March 20:
Paige Patricia Timothy, 16, died after the stolen car she was a passenger in hit a tree during a police pursuit in Christchurch.
March 21:
* Motorcyclist Graham Livemore, 27, died at Glenfield.
* Four Chinese died when their rental car crashed head-on into another vehicle at Clevedon. They were: Wilson Wing Fung Ha, 33, Lai Chun Yip, 61, Kong Hoi Ng, 59, Sze Lui Ng, 25.
* Hurunui man Henry Maxwell Croft, 18, died on State Highway 7, when his car crashed into a rock face at Frog Rock, north of Christchurch.
March 22:
* A 32-year-old Australian tourist died on the South Island's West Coast after a head-on smash on State Highway 7, east of Greymouth.
