• Hastings City Assist worker "thankful' to have stopped drink driver

Hastings City Assist worker "thankful' to have stopped drink driver

Roxy Tahuparae is thankful he was in the right place at the right time and able to prevent a man who turned out to be six-times the legal drink driving limit, from getting behind the wheel.

Tahuparae, who is in his fifth year with the Hastings Community Patrollers City Assist team, had just begun his smoko break opposite Subway on Russell St N when he saw a man leaving the store "stumbling". 

"I saw this really nice looking red Holden parked up outside Subway and when I was eating my lunch I noticed this male come out with his Subway but he seemed to be stumbling and he looked impaired." 

Unsure of whether he was under the influence, Tahuparae turned to his partner, Graham Liddington, who agreed with his initial assessment. 

"He definitely thought so too, so that's when I got on the police radio, stood by the men's toilet where he couldn't see me and got his rego." Graham went instore and spoke to the worker who had served the man, and also believed he was drunk.

He said the police turned up in a matter of minutes. "We stayed out of the scene altogether, so he didn't know it was us that actually rung him in but it was us that recognised the signs of him being under the influence of some sort of alcohol or drugs," Tahuparae said.

"Straight away I just thought it could be my family out on the road or someone else's family so it was good to get him off the road."

He believes it could have been a very different outcome if no one had stopped him. 

The incident took place just after 4pm on Wednesday, January 20. "I'm just thankful that we just happened to be going on break at that time." 

Eastern District Police said the man was breath tested and blew over 1500mgms of alcohol per litre of breath - the legal limit is 250mgms - and was a disqualified driver.

"Police reviewed CCTV footage of the man driving through town and it's a miracle he even made it without causing harm, given the fact that he had driven into the oncoming lane a number of times," a police spokesperson said. 

Police said this incident is a reminder to the community to call 111 and report this type of driving behaviour to ensure safer roads. 

A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said: "Incidents like this show the value of our hard-working City Assist team who help keep our district safe". 

Since City Assist was introduced in 2013, the team members have been walking the city streets seven days a week in Hastings city (and in Flaxmere since 2016), providing friendly reassurance to retailers and the public that there are people out and about every day who are there to help them if need be.

This includes working closely with Police and other agencies, and their efforts were recognised by Police last year at a special ceremony held in the Hastings District Council chambers.

Tahuparae is one of nine people in the City Assist team. He says it is a "rewarding" job to have, and varies from day to day, from helping a lady change her tyre in the rain, to assisting police with assaults, and anything in between.

"Being out on this job, every day is different and you meet a lot of people. It's definitely rewarding in the way that you can help people, and it might be small but knowing people walk away happy is the main thing."

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