Swimmer clears Parakai pool
A man jumped into a pool and refused to leave after being caught at a police drink-driving checkpoint on Saturday night.
Fishery officers and police spent over an hour negotiating with the man at Parakai Springs near Helensville, northwest of Auckland.
Police asked him to leave the hot pool at about 8pm on Saturday. Instead, he stood in the middle of the pool and began to grunt, a bystander reported.
Parakai Springs’ manager, Dion Tilson, said the man ran through the pool complex and jumped right into the outdoor pool after encountering the checkpoint. The pool then had to close early, at the request of police, he said.
The 47-year-old man swam to the middle of the pool and started performing what looked like martial arts poses.
He was screaming, like he was a superhero trying to power-up, said Jeremy Batten, a father who was there with his daughter.
Fishery officers and at least four police cars were at the pool trying to get the man out, Batten said.
When Batten and his daughter arrived, swimmers were clearing out as the man continued to grunt in the pool.
The police negotiation team eventually coaxed the man out, after over an hour in the otherwise empty pool.
To get him out, police sprayed him with a hose. Police dogs were also at the pool.
He was arrested for ‘‘a range of charges’’ and taken to hospital, a police spokeswoman said.
‘‘He was believed to be under the influence of drugs and was behaving erratically,’’ she said.
Parakai Springs is a indoor and outdoor pool complex, about 40 minutes’ drive from Auckland, that is popular with families.