Venkat Raman
Auckland, April 17, 2020
Two persons are reported to be in police custody following complaints that they assaulted Auckland transport workers.
In two separate incidents, two members of the public were reported to have spat at officials, leading to the isolation of the officials and taken off-duty.
Auckland Transport (AT) Chief Executive Shane Ellison said that the first case involved a woman.
“A couple were joy-riding on our trains and were told to get off. As they were being escorted from the train, a female spat at three of our staff. Two men and a woman have had to be stood down as a result of this incident and have gone into isolation. This behaviour is totally unacceptable. The incident was caught on CCTV and the police now have that footage,” he said.
Mr Ellison said that there was a similar incident on Wednesday night involving a security guard working for AT.
“This man was spat at by a member of the public and again the police were called. Our staff and contractors are out there in all weathers ensuring that essential workers can get to their jobs and we cannot tolerate this sort of behaviour. We are working with the police to ensure that our staff can do their job without being assaulted,” he said.
Disturbing and repulsive
“It is quite disturbing that a few people are acting like idiots, we’ve been getting some great feedback about the efforts that we have been making to get people around the city in these tough times but to have incidents like this is quite upsetting,” Mr Ellison said.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said that such behaviour is disgusting at any time, but at a time with COVID-19 its also dangerous.
“The individuals should face the full penalties under the law and I have no doubt that the police will be taking this matter very seriously. “Our thanks go to our essential transport staff and all of the key workers across Auckland and New Zealand who are working tirelessly at some risk to their personal safety to ensure that the services we all rely on can continue to function throughout the lockdown,” he said.
