A police officer was lucky to escape injury this morning when his patrol car was rammed by a stolen, out-of-control ute and shunted down a steep bank. The drama began about 8.40am when a member of the public in Kaikohe recognised a Mazda twin-cab ute stolen over the weekend in Kerikeri. Reporter Peter de Graaf was at the scene.
Two Northland men will face a raft of charges when they appear in court today after leading police on a chase in a stolen ute and ramming a police car, shunting it down a seven-metre bank.
Both the patrol car and the ute were extensively damaged in the smash onState Highway 10 just north of Puketona Junction yesterday morning. The out-of-control ute, which had driven over spikes and lost one wheel, missed the police officer by centimetres.
The drama began near Kaikohe about 8.40am when a member of the public recognised a stolen Mazda Bounty ute. The 2004 twin-cab ute had been taken, along with other items, in a burglary in Kerikeri a day earlier. Its upset owner had taken to the Northland Grapevine Facebook page urging people to report any sightings.
Police caught up with the ute on State Highway 12 near Ngawha Springs, but the driver refused to stop. The ute was pursued towards Pakaraka Junction where the driver turned up SH10. He drove over road spikes laid near Puketona Junction, but kept going for another 500m before losing control and smashing into the side of a bridge. The ute's front left-hand wheel was shorn off, ending up in the river below, but the ute continued on three wheels until it hit a patrol car parked just past the bridge. The police car was shunted down the bank, coming to rest against a fence.
The police car against the fence at the bottom of the bank.
It is understood the officer had just taken a second set of spikes out of the boot when he heard the ute hit the bridge behind him and stepped back behind the crash barrier. He was uninjured, but taken to a Kerikeri medical centre as a precaution. The driver, who is understood to be in his teens, suffered injuries to one leg and was taken to Bay of Islands Hospital in Kawakawa. His passenger, a man in his 20s, was uninjured and taken to the cells at Kaikohe police station.
Far North area commander Inspector Wendy Robilliard thanked the member of the public who alerted police after recognising the stolen ute from a post on the Northland Grapevine, as well as the person who helped the police nab one of the offenders after the crash.
The incident had once again proven the value of social media and the public acting as eyes and ears for the police, Ms Robilliard said.
The Kerikeri Fire Brigade was called out amid concerns for a damaged fire extinguisher in the crushed boot of the patrol car.
They also used the jaws of life to retrieve a firearm secured in a boot locker. Following the arrests police searched a property north of Kerikeri where they recovered stolen property. The men are expected in Kaikohe District Court today.
