Man arrested after incident involving a chainsaw

Tuesday, 26 August 2014 - 8:40pm

Alexandra Police have arrested a 45 year old man after a chainsaw which had been started and had the chain running, was presented during an altercation at a Service Station in Alexandra yesterday afternoon.

Police were called at 2.30pm after the occupants of two vehicles which had stopped at a local service station became involved in a heated argument. That ended with one of the men taking a chainsaw from the boot of his car, starting it, and then moving forward towards the other person while the chain was running.

Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk said the men who are both from the Central Otago area know each other, with some long standing ill feeling between the two.

He said "this is an act of stupidity with a huge potential for serous injury given a chainsaw was involved. It is aggravated by the fact that it occurred on the main street of Alexandra in the middle of the afternoon with members of the public both at the service station and passing by."

"While it all happened pretty quickly and the chainsaw was then put away, it could easily have ended in tragedy if one of the men had tripped or stopped suddenly" he said. "We are very lucky that everyone escaped without injury, as witnesses describe the chainsaw as getting very close to the other man involved"

While Police were called immediately by witnesses, both males left the area once they realised Police were on the way. A Roxburgh man surrendered himself at the Alexandra Police Station a short time later.

"A man has contacted Police and then voluntarily come to the Police Station a short time after the event bringing the chainsaw with him" Mr Kerrisk said. He has been charged with Assault with a Weapon and will appear in the Alexandra District Court today (27 August 2014)

Police have spoken to the other party, a 43 year old Alexandra man and confirmed that he was not injured as a result of the incident.

Mr Kerrisk reassured the public that this was an isolated incident and that incidents of this nature are extremely rare in the area.

"This is certainly something that is unusual for Alexandra" he said. "In fact I hope it would be a rare thing in any town. The great news is that those who were caught up in this stayed calm and called 111. While they were pretty shaken up no-one got hurt and that is the main thing."

Victim Support will be working with those who witnessed the event.

Police have declined to name the Service Station involved.

ENDS

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