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Cakes were a hot item in the Dunedin student area, as thousands of people celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.
In the most serious incident, which occurred just before midnight Wednesday, three people from North Otago tried unsuccessfully to join a party in a flat on Dundas St.
The trio, a 21-year-old woman, a 19-year-old man and a 26-year-old man, broke a mailbox and the older man challenged the occupants of the flat to a fight.
Later, one person was taken to Dunedin hospital, Sergeant Major Craig Dinnissen said.
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The 19-year-old led the trio to Butts Rd, where a huge St. Patrick’s Day party was taking place.
He spun the vehicle around the partygoers, then stopped and tried to bottle up a random person.
Both men were arrested. The teenager also recorded a breath alcohol reading of 447 micrograms per liter of breath and was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. The legal limit is 250 mcg.
Dinnissen said the driver was lucky not to kill anyone, as his actions had the potential to cause a “carnage” given the number of drunk pedestrians on the narrow road.
Supplied / Stuff
Scenes from a huge St. Patrick’s Day party in Dunedin on Butts Rd, 2020.
On Wednesday, Dinnissen warned that drunkenness in the student ward on St. Patrick’s Day was “worse” than New Year’s Eve.
“It’s just a binge drinking day.”
Police were busy with alcohol-related incidents throughout the day, including four calls to Regent Night ‘n Day, two of which involved a much-requested early morning delicacy: cakes.
The first incident did not involve cakes, but $ 13 worth of stolen items placed in the jacket of a 49-year-old man who was detained by security and later raided.
At 11.10pm, a 20-year-old man was seen putting two cakes in a bag and then eating one while waiting to pay.
Twenty minutes later, security detained a 20-year-old man who had shoved a cake into his pants.
Another man tried to steal a packet of letters from the same dairy, but was also detained by security, trespassed and fined by the store, Dinnissen said.
Hamish McNeilly / Stuff
Police closely watched the students’ celebration at Bracken View on St. Patrick’s Day
Police were also detained by members of the public after they found a severely intoxicated 18-year-old man convulsing on the lawn near the public gardens.
Dinnissen said the man was unable to speak, but could make “hand signals” while losing consciousness.
Officers assisted with first aid until St. John arrived.
On Castle St, people were seen setting fire to a mattress, which was on fire when firefighters arrived around 1.40 a.m. Thursday.
Investigations were ongoing, Dinnissen said.
Hamish McNeilly / Stuff
Students celebrate at Bracken View on St. Patrick’s Day. Police reported few problems, despite having previously said that St. Patrick’s Day in Dunedin can be busier than New Year’s Eve.
Police were also called in for a bizarre incident in which a woman and her friends filmed and abused a man pulling out his rolling container around 3 p.m. Wednesday.
The 44-year-old approached the group and attacked them, but missed.
Police reviewed the incident, arrested the man and warned him.
Two hours later, a 20-year-old driver struck a woman who ran in front of him on Dundas St.
The man called emergency services, but the woman fled the scene.
Police praised the man for reporting the incident.
The 19-year-old woman later presented to the Dunedin Hospital emergency department where she was assessed as having only minor injuries.
