A man is facing serious charges following a recent family harm incident in east Auckland that saw armed police swarm a residential property.
Officers were called to a house in Pakuranga Road at about 8.40am on November 14.
“One man was arrested and due to a report the offender was in possession of a firearm, a search was carried out,” a police spokesperson says.
“Numerous illicit items, including a firearm, were discovered at the scene and seized.”
The Times understands the man is a patched gang member.
The home’s occupant, who wants to remain anonymous, has criticised police for not preventing her pet dog from escaping the property while she was away from it.
She says she wanted to take the dog with her when she left the house last Thursday morning, but police told her officers present would make sure he was fine, so she left him in the backyard.
“They told me the dog would be fine. The officers would look after the dog or make sure he would be fine, but that didn’t happen.
“I think he jumped the fence not long after I left the property.”
Later that day the woman arranged for a relative to go to her home to collect her dog, thinking he was still there, but when they arrived they were told by police the dog had jumped the fence.
“They didn’t do anything about it,” his owner says.
“I said ‘you told me you would make sure the dog would be okay’.
“I was really disappointed they didn’t notify me.”
The woman posted on social media about her dog being missing and the Times reported on the situation last Friday night.
However, there was good news on Sunday when she learned he’d turned up at a nearby home on Friday morning and the property’s occupants had been looking after him.
She’s thrilled to have him back.
“I just feel like my heart is whole again. He was so happy to see me.
“Even though I’m dealing with so much other stuff, having him home with me is a huge stress gone.”
The Times asked police why officers at the property didn’t ensure the dog was looked after while his owner was away from the property and why police didn’t tell his owner the dog had escaped either when it happened or when it was noticed he was gone.
The police spokesperson says: “While police endeavour to take all precautions while working at scenes, in this case a number of serious matters were being attended to and it was not noticed until later that the dog had escaped, by police or the victim.
“Police’s top priority in this case was ensuring the victim was safe, and then ensuring we could gather sufficient evidence to support a prosecution.”
The spokesperson says police continue to investigate matters in relation to the incident.
A 37-year-old man is next due to appear in Manukau District Court on November 27 on charges of unlawfully possessing a firearm, unlawfully possessing ammunition, threatening to kill, and contravening a protection order.
