Before they knew it, he straddled Joanne’s wheelchair, exposed himself and blocked their path, she said.
“I felt very intimidated.”
Verryt, who experiences seizures when stressed, said she narrowly avoided one.
“It was so totally unexpected.”
The couple, who say they have spoken to police, allege the indecent incident was followed by a separate road-rage confrontation in Whangārei.
Shane claimed another motorist became aggressive as traffic merged from two lanes into one on State Highway 1 near the Kensington Rd roundabout, and threw a metal pole at their vehicle before following them south.
He said the couple turned off SH1 at Selwyn Ave and drove towards Forum North in an attempt to get away, but the driver continued to follow them.
He claimed the driver later blocked their path near the Water St end of the Forum North carpark and approached their vehicle carrying what he believed was another metal pole.
The couple said they were too scared to get out of their car and drove away when the man was about five metres from their vehicle.
Shane said he watched in the rear-view mirror as the man made a U-turn on Rust Ave and drove away.
“He must have cooled off by then.
“Only then did we decide it was safe to get out of the car,” he said of the ordeal, which he estimated lasted about 15 minutes.
Joanne Verryt said Shane had become her “guard dog” whenever she visited the city centre.
She and Shane, a longstanding Kamo Volunteer Fire Brigade member, said they attended the meeting to learn more about the Government’s law and order changes and ensure that Goldsmith heard her story.
“Minister Goldsmith gets to talk the talk. We’re the ones who have to walk the walk,” Shane said.
Goldsmith told the meeting the Government was considering extending tougher assault offences to other frontline occupations, including health workers, teachers and security guards.
Shane supported the plans for tougher penalties for assaults on ambulance officers, firefighters and Corrections staff.
He said aggression towards firefighters had increased since Covid-19.
“We do end up with some very violent attitudes.
“There’s been more and more anxiety in the community. It’s not that we are responsible for any of that behaviour, but we’re receiving it.”
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith (centre) with National’s Whangārei candidate Lloyd Budd (left) and Whangārei CitySafe officer Vadem Quelch at Thursday’s law and order meeting in the city. Photo / Susan Botting
He also backed proposed changes to citizen arrest and detention laws, saying they may have prevented his wife’s ordeal.
He said the man who exposed himself had already come to the attention of Whangārei CitySafe staff earlier that day.
“If they’d had more powers to detain or arrest him, for whatever he had come to their attention for before he got to us, my wife wouldn’t have had to experience what she did.”
Under the Crimes Amendment Bill, citizen arrest powers would be expanded to let people arrest and detain suspected offenders for any Crimes Act offence until police arrive.
However, critics have questioned whether wider citizen arrest powers would improve safety. A Ministry of Justice assessment found the changes were unlikely to substantially reduce offending and could create risks around the use of force and detention by the public.
Whangārei councillor Matt Yovich, who represents the district council on the CitySafe governance group, said he supported efforts to make areas such as the city centre safer.
Goldsmith with Whangārei district councillors David Baldwin (left) and Matt Yovich during his visit to Whangārei. Photo / Susan Botting
Any legislative changes affecting CitySafe operations would need to be considered by the governance group and council, he said.
CitySafe officers patrol Whangārei’s CBD daily and on weekend nights as part of the council-backed community safety service.
New Zealand Security Association board member and security company owner J.P. Dignon told Goldsmith that stronger protections and greater arrest powers would benefit security workers, who often placed themselves in harm’s way.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.