Alcohol fuels Masterton street fighting
Street brawls and drunken assaults kept police busy during 12 hours of violent incidents in Masterton at the weekend.
Sergeant Simon Irving said the string of incidents from 5pm on Saturday until soon after 5am yesterday involved drunken behaviour and public violence.
The first incident was reported on Saturday and involved three people fighting in public in Pownall St about 5pm.
The offenders were not thought to be residents of the street, and all three had left the area before police arrived.
A second incident involving street fighting was reported in Edith St about 9.30pm, Mr Irving said.
Trouble at a party had spilled out on to the street, he said, and police had arrived to find about seven people on the road, which was strewn with broken bottles.
He said the eviction of a party-goer from a home in the street had started the dispute, which was on the verge of escalating when officers arrived.
Police had sent the trouble-makers on their way without arresting any of them, Mr Irving said.
A 33-year-old woman was arrested in Villa St shortly after 2am yesterday after police received reports of a fight in the street between her and another woman, Mr Irving said.
The women were known to each other and intoxicated, he said. The arrested woman was facing a charge of assault using a weapon after she allegedly struck the other woman, 22, with a bottle.
The younger woman received a bruise to the back of her head during the skirmish, but did not need medical treatment.
Police were called just over three hours later to Michael St, where a resident had been smashing windows in his home.
The 22-year-old male was drunk and had arrived home about 5.30am after a night out, Mr Irving said.
The man had become involved in an argument with his partner about his all-night carousing and had started breaking the windows in their home.
The man was bleeding from his arms and hands when police arrived and was taken to Wairarapa Hospital for treatment, Mr Irving said.
Police also issued a Police Safety Order against the man that prohibited him from the property for 48 hours.
