Woman’s 3-hour rooftop standoff with police over alleged breach of bail ends with arrest

Police have arrested a Wellington woman after a middle of the night bail check escalated into a three-hour standoff when she escaped to her roof.

Officers went to a property in Waitangirua, Porirua about 2.15am after receiving a report of a woman breaching bail conditions.

Police said she was placed under arrest but attempted to evade the officers.

The woman, 41, was taken into custody shortly before 6am, they said.

When police came knocking, the woman was home alone and video called her older sister.

Her sister, 47, told the Herald she witnessed most of the incident through a video call.

According to her sister, officers told the woman they were there to arrest her for breaching bail conditions, which she denied doing.

“What [evidence] do you have? I have complied with my curfew for once in my life,” the woman said, in a recording of the call seen by the Herald.

The woman had charges for shoplifting and previous breach of bail, and was on a 7am-7pm curfew as a result, her sister said.

Police then allegedly said the breach had occurred two days ago, which she also denied.

The woman criticised the police for coming to her house at “silly o’clock” when most people would be “fast asleep” and initially would not answer the door.

Her sister said an officer put a foot in the door to keep it open and asked if the woman had evidence to prove she was home at the time of the alleged bail breach.

The woman told them to check her neighbour’s security cameras that faced her property.

Her sister claimed police did not seek this footage out at that time.

The woman said she was “scared” and felt “unsafe” because of past negative experiences with police so she fled to the roof of her two-storey home.

“There was no threat or risk to the community or risk to herself... it was for her own safety,” her sister said.

“She was scared that if she had come down, they would use force on her.”

Her sister said the first attending officers eventually left and new officers came to the scene.

She said the woman was wearing pants and a hoodie while she was on the roof and repeatedly said she was “cold”.

Temperatures in Porirua between 2am-6am on Friday were between 2.8-3.8C, according to MetService.

The woman’s sister said she was unable to come to the woman’s house but that the woman’s twin sister was at the scene for a short duration.

She said the twin unsuccessfully tried to hand her warm clothing to wear.

At 5.30am, the woman’s video call with her sister cut off. She was arrested shortly after.

The woman appeared in the Porirua District Court today.

She was released on bail under conditions she must be at home from 7am-7pm and present herself to officers that come to check in on her.

She told the Herald she was charged with escaping from police custody but she was not charged with breaching bail.

Her sister said she would be filing a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

She also planned to contact Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul for help, who has previously advocated for the rights of incarcerated people.

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.