Wellington mayoral candidate Graham Bloxham arrested for failing to stop for police

• Graham Bloxham was arrested and charged with failing to stop for police.
• Bloxham’s car was also impounded after the alleged incident.
• He is due to appear in the Wellington District Court on May 29.

The owner of a controversial Wellington Facebook page and candidate for the Wellington mayoralty has been arrested and charged with failing to stop for police.

Graham Bloxham, who in January announced he was running for Wellington mayor, posted in a Wainuiomata community Facebook page on Saturday detailing his alleged arrest.

“Yesterday I got pulled over, arrested for failing to stop after he said I was driving dangerously, thrown in the back of a Skoda and my car was impounded fir 6 months [sic]” the post, from Bloxham’s personal Facebook account read.

“The copper cuffed me so hard my wrists nearly bled, and I can hardly feel my thumbs nearly 24 hrs later.

“WTF is going on with WLG Police. Has anyone had anything like this..”, Bloxham asked.

Bloxham described the situation as an "absolutely crazy experience". Photo / supplied.

The post, which was soon deleted, included a photo of a marked wrist, which appeared to be Bloxham’s.

Contacted by the Herald about the incident Bloxham initially said it was posted on behalf of someone else, before claiming the post was fake.

A screenshot of Bloxham’s post was then shared on popular Wellington community Facebook page Vic Deals.

Another photo posted to Vic Deals appears to show Bloxham’s distinctly branded miniature car on the back of a tow truck.

The Herald has confirmed Graham Bloxham's unique vehicle was impounded over the weekend. Photo / supplied.

The Herald has confirmed it was impounded over the weekend.

Asked again about the incident after the photo of his car emerged, Bloxham continued to deny he was involved.

“If yiu want to post faked stuff over to u. But I’ll never employ you if u do [sic],” Bloxham said in a statement.

Police would not identify Bloxham but confirmed the details of the incident.

“A man is due to appear in the Wellington District Court on 29 May, charged with failing to stop for Police” a Police spokesperson said in a statement.

In a now-deleted post by Graham Bloxham, he said he was handcuffed "so hard my wrists nearly bled". Photo / Facebook.

Wellington District Court confirmed Bloxham was appearing in court on the 29th.

While Bloxham’s post was deleted from the Wainuiomata page, a similar post remains up on his Threads account

Asked again about the incident today, Bloxham changed his tune, confirming the arrest.

He said it happened after a police officer thought they saw him take a photo of the closed Terrace Tunnel while driving.

“I couldn’t pull over as it was on the terrace, cars each side, he then arrested me for not stopping,” Bloxham said.

“The nice officers gave me and my dog a ride to the station, gave me a form to get the ONENETWORK WELLINGTONLIVE car back, then drove us home kindly.

“An absolutely crazy experience that I’m sure this officer would rather he didn’t do. There was absolutely no reason to do what he did and I still can’t feel my thumbs,” Bloxham’s statement said.

When Bloxham announced his mayoral campaign earlier this year he said he’s “always loved politics and I love this city, I’ve had speeding tickets, parking tickets, all sorts of things, I’ve lived and loved in this city”.

He said at the time he had sold the Wellington Live Facebook page, but the companies register shows a Graham Harold Bloxham as the current sole shareholder of Wellington Live Limited through holding company In Your Pocket Media Limited.

There is no registered company named One Network Group listed on the companies register.

Ethan Manera is a multimedia journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan is always on the lookout for a story and can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.