Starting with catches, police in Cambridge responded to a family harm event last weekend where a male was reported for threatening to kill a female.
Senior Constable Deb Hann – On the Beat
He had left the address but was found to also be breaching court bail conditions and subsequently located. He faced charges in court accordingly. In another incident, another male was reported as behaving disorderly in a retail store, having stripped to his underwear whilst appearing to be under the influence of an unknown substance. Police attended, located and arrested the male. He was subsequently provided medical assistance and required hospitalisation due to his drug taking.
Our attendance at the latter incident highlighted a couple of things. While the intoxicated male was being escorted out of the store, members of the public were trying to squeeze around the officers, presumably in a hurry to exit. With the nature of the male’s behaviour, those people put themselves at potential risk from an unpredictable person. They also slowed the officers’ exit. Once outside, a parked vehicle then began reversing out when the male was about to be placed into a waiting patrol car stopped behind, causing delays to that process.
It is a good follow on to last week’s column to remind you that when police are on scene and dealing with an incident, please be patient and aware of the complications caused when people trying to push past us or otherwise hinder our progress.
In Te Awamutu, a few people have fallen prey to scammers in the past week. In one instance, a person making a purchase on Facebook marketplace was asked by the seller to pay a deposit due to a high level of interest in the item. Once the deposit was paid through online banking, the seller blocked all communication and needless to say, the trade did not proceed – leaving our victim out of pocket. Be wary of anyone asking for a deposit for something you have already arranged to pay for on collection.
Similarly, a second person paid in full online for a marketplace purchase. Once that payment was received, the seller requested further payment to cover insurance for the courier. A quick call to the courier company showed that this was not something they do. The trade ceased and the buyer never got the original money back.
As I always say, when purchasing through Market place, it is best to pick up and pay on collection, especially for items costing a monetary amount that you cannot afford to lose. A New Zealand bank account is not necessarily always a sign of legitimacy.
In a third example, a person received a phone call from someone pretending to be from Inland Revenue. After duping the person into providing private bank details, the scammers made an unauthorised money transfer out of the account. Spread the word and be scam aware.
Deb Hann – Senior Constable at the Cambridge Farmers’ Market. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
