Grunting man eventually coaxed out after hot pool stand-off

A man reportedly ran from a police drink-driving checkpoint and jumped into a hot pool at a popular facility in Auckland, New Zealand, where he grunted, screamed and performed martial arts poses. One witness has also said the man was wearing work boots while in the pool. The man was arrested after spending about an hour in the pool while police officers tried to negotiate with him. He was taken to hospital. Police and fishery officers tried to coax the 47-year-old man out of the pools at Parakai Springs near Helensville.



He entered the pool at about 8pm on Saturday and police spoke with him for about an hour before he was taken to Auckland Hospital for injuries he sustained during the incident, a spokeswoman said. "He was believed to be under the influence of drugs and was behaving erratically. The police negotiation team were called and spoke with the man for about an hour before he exited the pool." One witness to the incident, who asked not to be named, said it was "actually quite interesting to watch". "None of us saw anything out of the ordinary until four police officers came through the main entrance and right towards our group," he said.



"The man was almost trying to hide under pool edge and when the police finally got to him and told him to get out he started to get irate. None of us had noticed but he was actually still in work boots and carried them in his hands as he walked to the middle of the pool." The witness said once the man got to the middle of the pool he started to yell. "At one point he raised his hands like he was about to pray, but then proceeded to grunt exactly like Goku would trying to go super saiyan in Dragon Ball Z." The witness said about 14 police officers and a police dog were at the scene. Another witness saw a fisheries car and a booze bus. "They started peppering him with a fire hose but he refused to leave." The man said while it was entertaining, the scene was also sad.



Another bystander said when the man was asked to leave he went to the middle of the pool and began to grunt, before pulling what looked like martial arts poses. He was screaming, like a superhero trying to power-up, said Jeremy Batten who was at the pool with his daughter. "The chap was obviously under the influence of something he shouldn't be on," he said. "He was just sort of standing there like a Dragon Ball Z character grunting and carrying on." Batten said he felt bad for the man, who seemed to be getting distressed at the heavy police presence at the pool. The man will appear in Auckland District Court on Monday facing a range of charges. As the matter is now before the courts police said they were unable to comment further.