Police in Gisborne are warning motorists about the danger involved in picking up hitchhikers.
A 21-year-old man was arrested late on Thursday night after a woman told police he had threatened her with a knife.
The woman told police she stopped her car near the A & P showgrounds at about 10.30pm to pick up four hitchhikers.
When she told them she could not take them to Tauranga, she said, one of the four produced a knife.
The arrested man will appear in the Gisborne District Court on Friday charged with assault with a weapon.