A screenshot from a video shows people swarming and attacking a car after a spectator was apparently hit during a boys’ racing car competition near Masterton early Sunday morning.
Photo: Supplied / NZME

• Fireworks, bottles and rocks were thrown at police who were breaking up a boys’ racing car rally near Masterton early yesterday.
• Six people were arrested and others received infringement notices and license suspensions amid continued calls for a crackdown on young riders and – now – spectators.
• The latest incident is “heartbreaking” and deaths are inevitable if nothing is done, Masterton Mayor Gary Caffell said.

Spectators are “fundamentally complicit” in anti-social car gatherings, like the one which turned violent near Masterton early yesterday and should also face legal repercussions, the town’s mayor has said.

Boy racers threw fireworks, bottles and rocks at police, smashed a police car window and even turned on each other at one point during an illegal car meet yesterday.

He wanted to see spectators in lawmakers’ line of sight as well, Masterton Mayor Gary Caffell told Newstalk ZB’s Tim Beveridge this morning.

“The other problem that was created here was actually due to the bystanders, the people who were there ostensibly to support those who were causing the anti-social behavior.

“I know they’re creating a problem for the police, and maybe they need to be looked at as well because they’re basically complicit in what’s being done.”

Police told him people were coming from Wellington, Manawatū, Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay, as well as Wairarapa, for the rally, Caffell said.

A tragedy was inevitable.

“It was really heartbreaking to hear about this…unless the government is prepared to be really tougher on these people, then we’re going to have a lot of problems because someone is going to get killed, that doesn’t matter. doubt.”

Masterton Mayor Gary Caffell has described the violence at an early morning boys’ race car rally near the town of Wairarapa as “heartbreaking”.
Photo: Age of Times Wairarapa via LDR

In June, 15-year-old CJ Holmes had his right leg amputated below the knee when he was struck by a car that went out of control during a boys’ racing competition in Foxton. The driver, the partner of CJ’s sister, pleaded guilty to charges related to the incident.

In yesterday morning’s incident, six people were arrested, two cars were impounded and other people were issued infringement notices and license suspensions after Wairarapa police disrupted the gathering planned on Waingawa Rd, near Masterton.

The operation ended in violence when officers were confronted by a large and aggressive group, with fireworks, bottles and stones thrown at police and the rear window of a police vehicle smashed by the group, a police spokesperson said yesterday.

Footage posted on social media also showed a group of men kicking a silver car, with a fight then breaking out before a masked man smashed the car’s windows before the driver managed to accelerate.

A passerby said Herald the man’s car was attacked because he hit a spectator.

It was “devastating” when a few people spoiled events organized to show off pilots’ skills and training for competitions, a passerby said.

Anti-social car rallies were a problem across the country, and police had told him yesterday morning that those involved were from across the North Island, Caffell told Newstalk ZB.

“It was by no means a simple Wairarapa meeting (but people are) really fed up and shocked. In Masterton we like to think of ourselves as a town that is friendly and welcoming to people.

“So for something like this to happen, it’s just quite a shock and to me really heartbreaking because it doesn’t tell people what Masterton is about. It’s just something we need to get rid of.”

He had spoken to police and “they know they have a job to do,” Caffell said.

They “may have” been taken by surprise by what happened yesterday morning, he added.

“They’re disappointed, but they’re determined. One of the messages I got very clearly from them was that they were determined to break this relationship.

“And I’m really encouraged by the police minister’s words that ‘We’re going to be very tough,’ because if we don’t, there will be deaths.”

Yesterday’s incident is just one of many boys’ racing events this year.

Police cracked down on a huge “anti-social burnout meeting” in Levin in June.

The gathering of 200 vehicles led to more stone and bottle throwing, as well as multiple arrests and injured police officers.

“Police fully understand the stress and concern that illegal and anti-social street racing causes for members of the community, and we are committed to disrupting this activity by disrupting it when it occurs and holding offenders to account ” said Inspector Ross Grantham, Manawatū Area Commander. time.

New legislation he was working on with Transport Minister Simeon Brown would make it harder for those responsible to continue their anti-social behavior, Police Minister Mark Mitchell said last month.

“The police will have even more powers to make it even more difficult for young riders.

“Rural communities and provincial towns are particularly fed up with young riders and their lack of consideration, property damage and the danger and disruption they pose to law-abiding community members and legal users of the road.”

* This story was first published by the Herald of New Zealand.