Appeal for info following incident at Lower Hutt school
Lower Hutt Police are appealing for information from the
public following an
incident at Gracefield School on Bell
Road last Monday.
Just before 8:30am on the 1st of
November, a man indecently exposed himself
in front of a
pupil on school grounds and Police are seeking assistance
from
the public to identify him.
The man is described
as having dark brown or black hair and wearing a grey
top
with the numbers 09 on it, black shorts or pants, black and
white shoes
and possibly a red item of clothing under his
top. He was not wearing a face
covering and was talking
on his cell phone on the field around the
school
playground just prior to the incident.
The man
was possibly driving a brown, older model, Toyota Corolla
hatchback.
We believe this vehicle was in the school car
park between approximately
8:15am and 8:45am on Monday,
and that many parents either drove past it or
parked
nearby during this time.
The pupil was not injured in the
incident and did the right thing by
immediately telling a
teacher what happened. They are being supported by
their
family, school, and Police.
Police would like to hear from
anyone who saw this man or vehicle in the area
or
recognises the descriptions above. Anyone who has CCTV
footage covering
any part of Bell Road is also asked to
save the footage from Monday morning
to enable Police to
review it.
Furthermore, if vehicles fitted with dashcams
were in the school car park
area at the relevant time, we
urge the owners to contact Police.
Anyone who witnessed
part of this incident, or has any information at
all
which may assist, is asked to get in touch with
Police by calling 105 and
quoting file number
211101/5956.
We would like to reassure the community that
this appears to be an isolated
incident and we are
committed to holding the person responsible to account.
We
recognise that this will cause concern in the community and
encourage
parents to speak to their children and schools
about safety. Further
information can be found on the
police website here [1].
Note for media: We recognise that
the attached CCTV images are of poor
quality.
Unfortunately higher resolution versions are not
available.