Car club ‘forced out at gunpoint’
Aclassic car club that stopped to take in the sights of Taharoa claim they were chased out of the remote Waikato town by locals threatening to shoot them and bash their cars if they didn’t leave.
A 69-year-old man said it wasn’t just surfers and boaties being threatened and shot at but even people using public roads looking at the town’s tourist sign.
The Herald reported yesterday that surfers and boaties were being threatened and some had been shot at when they were at Albatross Point off the Taharoa coastline, including a 14-year-old boy, his father and another friend last Thursday morning.
A club member, who did not want to be named, said about 10 classic cars and their owners were parked on the public road leading to the Taharoa Ironsands mine on April 7, reading a sign with the history of the town when two men approached and started swearing at them. The site is opposite the lookout.
“The next thing these Ma¯ori fellas
come out with the guns and say ‘You better piss off, we will shoot the lot of you and wreck your cars’.”
The classic car club member said he then looked about 150m above him on the hill and saw a group of four men standing in the bush holding guns.
“We could see them with rifles or
guns — it was hard to see from that range.
“They were really threatening saying, ‘Get out of here, get out of here — we will smash your cars, we will shoot you.’ So we did what they said and shot through.”
The car enthusiast said it took a lot to scare him, but the men had a Kawhia Otorohanga Waitomo
Te Kuiti were only a few hours into the twoday jaunt when they were scared off.
It was the first time the club members had driven to Taharoa and they would not go there again after the frightening experience. “It’s not just surfers. It’s also the land as well, and anybody up there. If there were tourists from overseas and these guy pounced on them, they would be really shocked.”
A Taharoa local, who asked not to be named, said the club members came across as “arrogant and disrespectful” when they were asked to leave because they were on private land.
“We have had many tourists and bike rides and even horse treks out these ways by invite because they have asked and understand the dangers and the land we try to look after.” She said large machinery was in operation around the mine and it was dangerous.
Kawhia Police senior constable Jonathan Maoate said police were still investigating last Thursday’s shooting and the identity of the two people on the ridgeline who fired the shots was unknown at this stage.