Drunken mob turns on cops
Waikato police officers were pelted with bottles and threatened during a night of drunken mayhem at Cambridge pubs.
Saturday night’s antics at two of the Waikato town’s bars involved groups of up to 30 people with what police say were ‘‘frightening levels of drunkenness’’ turning on police staff.
The incidents happened the same night volunteer firefighters in Waihi were attacked by drunks when responding to a car crash. A 17 year old has since been arrested in relation to the assault and appeared in court yesterday morning.
Cambridge police Sergeant Andrew Osborn said police were called to deal with multiple groups of drunken people fighting, allegedly trashing cars and in one case trying to fight bar staff between 10.30pm and 1am. The first call was to the Five Stags pub in Leamington where a group of people were fighting, he said.
Officers arrived to find bar staff holding one man down on the ground.
‘‘They were trying to restrain him after he tried to fight with bar staff.’’
At the same time vehicles parked in the pub carpark were damaged. Side windows were broken off and panels on cars were dented.
Then around 1am police were called to the Masonic Hotel on Duke St where around 30 people were fighting, Osborn said.
Amid the fight police got a report someone had pulled a gun inside the pub but later inquiries found that was untrue.
Extra police staff were called in with around 20 officers attending. Waipa District Council had also been informed and was waiting on a police report before taking any possible action under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, a spokesperson said.
Four men aged between 18 and 30 were arrested on the night. They are facing charges relating to disorderly behaviour and one has been charged with assault.