A pair of “boozed up” young students who went joyriding in a ute after breaking into the new Dunedin Hospital site have been blasted by police.
The two 19-year-olds, both students at a Dunedin tertiary institution, stumbled into the hospital construction site on Cumberland St at 2.46am this morning, Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said.
The pair stole a ute and tried to drive off but ‘‘missed the open gate’’.
They were soon halted by workers on the site who ‘‘stopped them in the throes of driving around the yard’’.
When police arrived, the pair were arrested and charged with unlawfully being in an enclosed yard.
Further charges were pending, he said.
‘‘Just boozed up young males . . . doing something absolutely stupid.
‘‘It could have resulted in injuries, or anything that you can think of really, especially in a construction yard.’’
He did not know their exact level of intoxication, but it was ‘‘obviously’’ high enough to convince themselves would be a ‘‘great idea’’ to go steal a ute from a construction site.
The pair would appear in Dunedin District Court on March 5.