16 Sep 2023

Police seize knife, arrest woman in Whakatāne

7:28 pm on 16 September 2023
Police in Wellington. Generic image

(File photo) Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Police in Whakatāne have seized a knife and charged a woman with shoplifting.

Senior Sergeant Tristan Murray said police were called to central Whakatāne after multiple reports about "a woman acting threateningly towards a person", shortly before 6pm on Wednesday.

Murray said a knife was seized at the scene on The Strand, and a 41-year-old woman was remanded in custody.

No one was hurt, he said.

The woman was charged with possessing an offensive weapon, methamphetamine possession, disorderly behaviour and multiple charges of shoplifting.

Murray said police take this type of offending seriously and need people to report suspicious activity, so police can investigate and can "hold offenders to account".

The woman was scheduled to reappear in the Whakatāne District Court on Tuesday, 19 September.

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