Police were called down to The Strand in Tauranga this afternoon after receiving reports of a group of masked people demanding money from members of the public.
Members of the group were said to have placed bandanas over their faces before saying 'give us all you money” to passers-by.
Police speaking with a group of people on The Strand this afternoon. Photo: Chris Callinan.
When contacted by SunLive, Tauranga Police say they saw no one masked, and categorised the exchange as 'begging”.
No one was arrested.
7 comments
Robbery
Posted on 28-07-2016 14:59 | By maildrop
Cops on their way so remove the mask and claim to be a beggar. Easy peasy. No need to waste precious time dealing with thieves and thugs until they actually hurt someone. Can we add this to the blitz list and pencil it in for last fortnight in November, just after the cyclists with no helmet blitz?
Hmmmm
Posted on 28-07-2016 16:49 | By How about this view!
Isn't the city centre just wonderful.... I"m not in the least surprised, it seems to just be an escalation of the mindless activities that take place outside the council offices and Art gallery on a daily basis. Really the only notable point being that this has taken place away from the cameras this time. "IF" council steamroller their civic heart project through, maybe they could install a few hitching posts for all of the thieves cowboys and bandits that will be drawn to the "dead" centre of town.
No Beggers in our streets
Posted on 28-07-2016 17:08 | By TraceyWallace
There is plenty of awesome work going on in the community to help feed the need for our homeless and those on struggle street right now with Under the Stars teams setting up community dinners and takeaways - We do not want or need Beggars or Opportunists accosting visitors in the Streets!
camera footage
Posted on 28-07-2016 18:08 | By Angel74
that will show them wearing masks. Why these sorts get their kicks out of upsetting innocent people is beyond me and if they think they are funny that's another thing altogether
cameras
Posted on 29-07-2016 05:45 | By tonyb1965
Do we not have a huge investment by the TCC in cameras on the strand ?? really easy to see if they were wearing masks I would have thought. Maybe they needed to get back to writing tickets for the real criminals revenue to collect out there ,Too hard maybe ??
Jmac
Posted on 29-07-2016 11:24 | By JohnMac
There must be work for the employable so for the young and fit no need to beg with or without a mask. Get a job or do a course to learn how and stop making our country look hopeless.to be useful
Time police arrived
Posted on 29-07-2016 13:13 | By Angel74
the masks were removed and if they looked at camera footage they would of seen that the time wasters were up to know good wearing masks, as fas as im a wear cameras are operating all over the C.B.D
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