Police shoot armed person after pursuit across Ōtahuhu, Hillsborough in Auckland. Video / Supplied / Dean Purcell
Not-guilty pleas have been entered on behalf of a man who spent weeks in an induced coma after he was shot by police last year following an alleged wild chase through a series of Auckland suburbs.
Papatoetoe resident Amani Raumati, 28, was taken to Auckland City Hospital in critical conditionon September 30 after the pursuit ended in Hillsborough.
He was subsequently charged with using a firearm against police, recklessly operating a vehicle, failing to stop for police, possession of methamphetamine, being unlawfully in possession of a Dan Wesson revolver, possessing a Mossberg .22 rifle for an unlawful purpose, and two counts of presenting the rifle at people.
If convicted of the using a firearm against police charge, he could potentially face a sentence of up to 14 years' prison. The maximum possible sentence for the methamphetamine charge is life imprisonment.
Raumati was scheduled to appear before Judge Sanjay Patel today in Manukau District Court via audio-visual feed. However, intimated not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf by defence counsel Gregor Morison after the defendant was unable to attend due to audio-visual access issues from jail.
Police said on the day of the incident that chaos first unfolded around 9am in Ōtāhuhu, when officers tried to stop a suspicious vehicle allegedly driven by Raumati. But the driver backed into one of the police vehicles and drove off, police said at the time.
Police on Lilac Grove, Hillsborough, after a pursuit ended in a shooting. Photo / Dean Purcell
The vehicle was followed by the police Eagle helicopter as it drove "erratically at speed", continuing on even after it ran over spikes, authorities said. The vehicle drove the wrong way on a Southern Motorway onramp a short time before turning around and meeting up with "a vehicle that was parked on the side of the motorway waiting for him", police said.
That is where Raumati is alleged to have met up with co-defendant Brian Sofola Nati Jr, whose name suppression lapsed today. Both men then left in a second car, a 1997 Honda Civic, authorities allege.
As police pursued the second car, Raumati is accused of having pointed a gun multiple times at officers and at members of the public. After the second vehicle came to a stop down a long driveway in Hillsborough, Nati is alleged to have run towards a bush area while Raumati is accused of having presented a firearm at police.
Officers fired on Raumati as he ran onto a nearby property, police explained at the time, adding that he was wounded after again presenting a firearm at the officers.
An Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation into the police shooting is ongoing, as is standard practice.
Nati, 29, was arrested nearby.
He has previously pleaded not guilty to failing to stop for police, driving a vehicle on State Highway 1 in a manner that might have been dangerous to the public and a joint charge with Raumati of presenting a firearm at police.
