Police have spoken out after a video of officers stopping a man who said he was going to the supermarket went viral.
The video was filmed in Whangarei earlier this month and posted to Facebook by Stephen Daly.
It showed officers questioning Daly and the man who was driving him despite Daly repeatedly saying he was on his way to get groceries.
The two officers then confiscate the men's licenses - much to Daly's dismay.
However the video is not what it seems - Daly is a patched member of the Headhunters gang and known to police.
Daly had been previously warned about breaching lockdown conditions - multiple times according to Inspector Marty Ruth of the Northland police.
"He was previously spoken to during the lockdown period on three separate occasions and was warned after being found by police doing burnouts in public and breaching other Alert Level 4 restrictions," Ruth told Newshub.
Given Daly's previous behaviour police decided to follow him to the supermarket to check he was doing what he said he was doing.
"After waiting in line at the supermarket for a short time the man and his driver left without purchasing anything. Police have yet to locate the man’s associate to return his licence."
Ruth says he is proud of the officers for remaining calm despite being verbally abused by Daly.
"I commend their actions and I want to reiterate that police will take necessary action if people are found to be repeatedly breaching the restrictions and putting our community at risk."
