Fatal accident on Dalmeny St

Police

An elderly pedestrian died after being struck by a vehicle on Dalmeny St last week.

Tokoroa senior sergeant Graeme Hill believed it was not a driver error and speed was not a factor.

‘‘It was a very unfortunate incident . . . it appears the pedestrian has basically stepped out without looking.’’

The serious crash unit is currently investigating the incident which killed the 72-year old on Friday at about 9pm.

Hill said the driver who was in a light truck vehicle was a ‘‘courteous driver’’.

‘‘He’s extremely traumatised and very upset about what’s going on.’’

Shooter an police

An unknown shooter who fired shots at the Billah St flats was described as an ‘‘absolute idiot’’ by Hill.

‘‘Someone putting lives at risk doing something like this, from a police perspective, needs their head read.’’

‘‘I don’t know what sort of mentality they have.’’

The Tokoroa Police are still investigating the incident described in the story on Page 1.

But because of the place, time, and circumstances, police have no leads on suspects, he said.

Police are seeking an orange coloured vehicle which was seen around the Benella St and

‘‘ idiot’’ says Billah St intersection at the time of the shooting.

Anyone who has information can ring detective Roger Whale on 885 0115 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Police crackdown licences

Dozens of people have been forbidden to drive after being caught breaching their licence conditions.

Hill said in the last four weeks there have been about six people every week who have been forbidden to drive.

Those people have either breached their licence condition, had expired licences or were not licensed to drive at all.

Leading up to Easter, he said roading police will crack down on drivers’ licences. Wanted A 32-year old Tokoroa man, Junior Lesa, has four warrants for his arrest.

The male Pacific Islander failed to appear in court, breached court conditions and failed to answer to court bail.

Burglars make renovations of their own

In an attempt to upgrade their home, Putaruru residents were instead left with an empty house after brand new furniture was stolen.

Last week, a Putaruru house undergoing renovations was burgled.

Putaruru senior sergeant Jason Shailer said the offenders forcefully entered and stole

on brand new items such as bedding, a lounge suite and electrical gear.

If anyone knows anything or notices someone with new furniture all of a sudden, contact the local police or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111

Fire

Rubbish residents

A number of rubbish fires were extinguished by the Tokoroa Volunteer Fire Brigade after complaints by residents.

Chief fire offer Dave Morris said the brigade responded to four callouts of people burning rubbish at night.

‘‘For people that are burning rubbish, they need to get a permit from the council and to make sure it’s not going to be a smoke hazard.

‘‘If you’re burning green stuff, it causes quite a bit of smoke.’’

Crawly creature sets off alarm

An eight- legged prankster was caught after setting off the sensors at the Putaruru Fire Brigade hall.

Volunteer firefighters responded to alarms but found nothing was wrong.

Chief fire officer Nathan Bennetto said all the officers could find was a spider.

He said it happened ‘‘once in a blue moon’’ but spiders have a reputation for crawling into the sensors.

fires