Assaults at Riccarton bus lounge
Two public brawls in as many days outside a Christchurch bus lounge have added to its reputation as a hot spot for violence.
There have been regular reports of intimidating behaviour outside Riccarton’s Metro bus lounge since it opened less than a year ago.
Groups of up to 60 teenagers have been seen crowding the entrance late at night.
Public assaults took place near the bus lounge on both Sunday and Monday this week, police confirmed.
A small group fought on Sunday afternoon, with one man seen bleeding from the mouth. He refused an ambulance. One person was arrested for assault.
The following day, a teenage girl was kicked repeatedly by a group until her nose was bleeding. No arrests were made.
Earlier this year a man was hospitalised by a tomahawk-wielding teenager, and a group of teens shook a car trying to enter a nearby street.
Despite a string of such incidents, police say there is no particular pattern of crimes around the bus lounge.
Inspector Corrie Parnell said any area where people congregated would attract reports of anti-social behaviour, and police patrolled the area on foot and in vehicles.
The Christchurch City Council increased security in response to earlier violent incidents.
There were now two security guards working between 4pm and 9pm, when the lounge closed.
A witness to one of this week’s assaults said security seemed powerless to stop the fighting, and such incidents were common.
‘‘[The teenagers] also hang around the side street, turn trolleys upside down to sit on. There’s a strong smell of dope, drinking booze, it’s crazy,’’ he said.
‘‘Does someone have to get really injured or die before something is done?’’
Once an issue spilled out onto the street, there was little security could do.
The police, not the council, were responsible for what happened on the footpath, where the reported issues mostly took place.
‘‘The security staff do not patrol or manage on-street issues. Onstreet patrols and management of on-street issues is a matter for the police,’’ council transport operations manager Steffan Thomas said.
‘‘If the security can observe an incident arising from within the bus hub, they contact the police.’’
Local businesses and residents had opposed the chosen site, arguing it would attract anti-social behaviour.
A nearby business owner, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, said the issue of intimidating crowds had been ongoing.
‘‘We would have easily had 40 kids out the front on Monday,’’ they said.
‘‘This week has been really bad.’’