A French hitchhiker has admitted to wilfully damaging road signs after becoming furious at being stuck in a tiny New Zealand town for four days without a ride, local media reported on Tuesday.
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Cedric Claude Rene Rault-Verpre (referred to by one local as a “spoiled millennial”) allegedly pummeled the Welcome to Punakaiki sign with a rock and hurled another road sign into a river. Rault-Verpre has been ordered to surrender his passport and must return to court on Friday in Christchurch. The New Zealand Herald, citing a courtroom source, said he planned to hitch-hike there.
Duty lawyer Marcus Zintl said Rault-Verpre just wanted the matter to go away and was prepared to pay reparation, although he believed the signs were already damaged and he did not do $3000 worth of damage to them.
Asked how long he had been in New Zealand, the 27-year-old replied “too long, way too long”.
He was noticeable because of the big black plastic bag he carried and was understood to have slept on Punakaiki Beach.
A nylon base plate nailed to a sign warning of hidden phone lines and to “dial before you dig” had been torn off another sign and the whole sign uprooted, he said.
The man was exploring Punakaiki, on the west coast of the South Island.
‘It was quite vicious and gave me a fright, ‘ she said.
She saw him each morning standing on the side of the road without his thumb raised, leading her to question whether he knew what gesture was required procure a ride. They described a man as aggressive when they approached him about his behaviour and were anxious he might be violent so wanted the Department of Conservation (DOC) to alert police.
When the police arrived Rault-Verpe stayed on the ground and spoke to them from a prone position.
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Local business owner Neil Mouat claims the man told one local that “New Zealand was s**t and he couldn’t wait to get back to Europe”. “The worst American is not an asshole like a New Zealander”.
