Dunedin police have detained and released a fury pest they've dubbed the 'Blacks Road ripper' after it terrorised a resident.
File image - not the 'Blacks Road ripper'. Photo: Peter Young / Fisheye Films
Officers were called to the hilly green suburb of Opoho about 11pm last night after a marsupial terrorised the neighbourhood.
The occupant of a Blacks Road address contacted police "in distress, stating a possum was holding her hostage", Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said.
"When she would exit her house and attempt to reach her car, the possum would charge at her, and she would flee inside.
"Upon attendance, police discovered that as they approached the front door, a juvenile possum came out of the dark and climbed the officer's leg. Suspect it was either an escaped pet or had recently been separated from it's mother."
Instead of taking the furry fiend to the big house, officers delivered the possum further up Signal Hill and released it into the wild - "to prevent further citizen harassment".
"No harm to possum or the officer who was happy to assist with the Blacks Road ripper," Dinnissen said.