Police swarmed a vehicle at Onehunga Dress Smart shopping centre following a pursuit across Auckland. Photo / Kenneth VanHouse
Dramatic footage has emerged of armed officers pulling a driver from his vehicle after a chase by up to 20 police cars cornered it in a mall carpark.
A shopper inside the Onehunga carpark witnessed the conclusion of the citywide pursuit across multiple suburbs, including downtown Auckland, on Tuesday afternoon.
Footage shows the driver being surrounded and pulled from his vehicle.
A witness, who took the video, said he and his wife were changing their newborn in their car when police entered the Dress Smart Onehunga shopping centre carpark.
“I saw the driver go past me ... then they boxed him in.”
The witness said he was shocked at what he believed was “aggressive” force used to arrest the man.
“It could have been relatively justified, I don’t know what caused the high-speed police chase ... but maybe 30 seconds after the video ends I walk back and the guy is pummelled,” he said.
“I mean from head to torso covered in blood ... it was vicious,” he said.
The witness said he saw the driver before the pursuit ended and he appeared unscathed.
“One minute he was fine and then the next he was beaten to a pulp,” he claimed.
Police said they were still looking into the incident and the witness’ claims.
“Police regularly review our responses to incidents for any lessons learned, and a debrief has been conducted into the matter,” a spokesperson told the Herald.
“Police will conduct an internal investigation and consider whether any other appropriate action needs to be taken.”
According to police, before 3pm on Tuesday, a blue Subaru was travelling towards the city on the Northwestern Motorway.
Inspector Kerry Watson said police staff tried to approach the vehicle at Western Springs.
“Instead, the driver took off from police at speed on Great North Rd towards Point Chevalier,” Watson said.
Shortly after 3pm, at least 10 police vehicles could be seen descending on the Auckland CBD, with the Eagle helicopter overhead.
Police said the vehicle was driven across central Auckland suburbs and the CBD, before heading towards Three Kings and eventually Onehunga.
The vehicle drove into Dress Smart Onehunga carpark shortly after 3.30pm.
“Our staff blocked the vehicle in before taking the male driver into custody,” Watson said.
Three police vehicles were reportedly damaged.
Police told the Herald a Northland man was due to appear in court yesterday on charges including aggravated assault, reckless driving, failing to stop and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.
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