'Flashmob' of Hamilton bicycle riders alarm police with their antics

Tuesday, 9 June 2026

A roving group of 40 to 50 young people on bicycles have Hamilton police worried their dangerous riding could lead to disaster.

“Basically, they were ignoring every traffic regulation you can think of,” Senior Sergeant Chris Painter said.

That included clogging the car lanes, riding on the wrong side of roads and over footpaths, doing wheel-stands, wearing no helmets, and going through red lights.

While no arrests had been made, police would be doing follow-up work and checking CCTV footage from around the city to locate the offenders, he said.

The group had initially been spotted in Frankton, about 2.20pm. The police had attended and had monitored the situation, Senior Sergeant Lance Adams said in response to Waikato Times’ inquiries.

“A large amount of information was gathered by staff that will be followed up on.

“Police are following positive lines of inquiry to identify those involved and take any appropriate enforcement action.”

A witness said he had encountered the group as he pulled out of Cobham Drive and into Grey St in Hamilton East about 3pm.

“There was about 25 of them, and they were weaving all across the road.

“They were really dominating the road, popping wheelies, that sort of thing. Anyone driving on the other side would not have been able to get through them … They were taking up the entire lane.

“It seemed pretty dangerous. They were all over the footpath and all over the road like a hot rash.”

The eyewitness said no-one of the group was wearing a helmet, and all seemed aged about 15 to 18.

The group had converged on Garden Place in a “flashmob”-style gathering about 4pm, before riding off to other parts of the city.

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Yash Lakhani, the manager of the MetroMart store in Garden Place said he saw the group and had been startled by how large their number was, but he had not actually witnessed any bad behaviour other than the cyclists riding as a pack up and down the street.

The Waikato Times approached the Hamilton City Council to see if their City Safe staff had encountered the group, whether the council’s cameras had captured the group, and for comment about what had happened.

The response, however, was short.

“Council has been made aware of reports about concerning behaviour from a large group of road users over the weekend. As this sits with police, we won’t be able to make further comment at this time,” said communication and engagement manager Lauradanna Radesic.

It was clear, however, the event had been an organised one, and a copycat of similar recent events in Auckland in which motorists said they had been “swarmed” and abused by a large group of bike riders.

One mother, who was driving with her young kids, told she suddenly came across what she described as “a large, fast -moving group” of more than 20 cyclists heading directly towards traffic, in an incident in April.

“They were all riding towards us with no intention of stopping. They started swarming the cars, spitting at my car and yelling abuse,” she said.

Other motorists described similarly distressing scenes, including cyclists allegedly kicking vehicles, hanging off door handles and shouting abuse, with some riders appearing to be teenagers wearing face coverings.

Adams said the police wanted to thank the members of the public who reported the group’s behaviour and urged anybody with any footage, including dashcam footage, to make a report to Police via the 105 system, either over the phone or online at 105.police.govt.nz.

Information could also be provided anonymously via the Crime Stoppers tip-off line on 0800 555 111.