Car deliberately crashed into police station

File photo.

Hamilton police say an incident where a car deliberately crashed through their front entrance this afternoon, came without warning and was inches away from being a tragedy.

Area commander Inspector Rob Lindsay says it narrowly missed the eight to ten members of the public who were waiting inside. He says it was good timing that none of them were in the doorway at the time.

Two men were in the car, and the driver was believed to be suffering mental health issues, Mr Lindsay said.

The driver was "extremely uncooperative and aggressive" towards police staff and had to be forcibly extracted from the car, he said.

Two police staff were injured in the struggle and the driver sustained a number of cuts, while the passenger was uninjured.

A female officer required several stitches for a cut to her hand and a male officer suffered an eye injury.

The station's front counter would be out of action for several hours and non-urgent queries should be referred to other local stations.

The driver was under guard at Waikato Hospital and would be assessed by mental health service providers before a decision on laying charges was made.

A witness told the Waikato Times the car was heading down Bridge Street towards Victoria Street when it took a sudden right turn and crashed into the front of the building.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB