Passenger in fleeing car enabled driver to shoot at police, Crown says

The 1916 Enfield 303 Rifle used by a fleeing driver to fire directly at a police officer in a patrol car behind. Photo / Sarah Curtis

A police officer watched in disbelief as the driver of a car he was pursuing hoisted himself out his window, and took aim at him with a cut-down riftle.

Other officers who pursued the car earlier had warned him the driver had a gun and he expected it might get poked out the window to scare him.

But he had not expected to see the driver stand up and use both hands to point the rifle directly at him.

"...When he looked down the sights at me, I realised he was trying to shoot me," Senior Constable Peter Kinane told the Whangārei District Court yesterday.

The passenger in the car on that night in September 2020, Tama-Parei Himiona Parata, is on trial for his part in the pursuit, which the Crown says enabled the driver to fire at Kinane four times.

Kinane, a Whangārei police dog handler, said he knew when another shot was coming because he could see a front seat passenger suddenly grab the steering wheel.

That help from the passenger enabled the driver to push his whole torso out his window, twist so he was fully facing the patrol car, and take aim straight at Kinane, he said.

Parata, 25, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of using a firearm against a member of the police and four of dangerous driving for the lengthy pursuit around Whangārei residential streets in the early hours of September 3, 2020.

The driver Jeffrey Cassidy has since been dealt with by the courts.

The Crown alleges that each time Cassidy either fired at Kinane - or tried to - Parata assisted him by taking hold of the steering wheel, and that by doing so, he drove dangerously.

Police first noticed Cassidy and Parata, driving a small black hatchback, just before midnight on September 2, 2020, prosecutor Connor Taylor said.

Two officers were at the roadside when the pair drove slowly by, staring oddly at them.

The officers initially followed the vehicle but began pursuing it when the driver started speeding and refused to stop.

After a minute or two, the hatchback swerved into the opposite lane and angled toward them. There was a loud bang and a flash from the driver window.

Thinking a gun had been fired, the unarmed officers abandoned the pursuit.

The hatchback carried on until another unarmed officer spotted it heading to Onerahi at speed with its lights off.

Kinane was at the police station when he learned what was happening.

A man accused of enabling a driver to lean out his window and point a gun at a police officer pursuing them, is on trial in Whangārei. Photo / Bevan Conley

He armed himself and caught up with the hatchback at Onerahi, taking over as the lead police vehicle in a 30-minute pursuit – the longest of his 22-year career.

The hatchback did a U-turn at Onerahi, went back to the central city, out to Raumanga, back to the city, out to Kamo, back to the city, and eventually stopped in Otaika.

Police disabled it with road spikes as it left Onerahi. The rear driver-side tyre slowly deflated and flew off, leaving a naked wheel rim that was spraying sparks, slowing the car down and making it harder to control.

Kinane's recorded conversation with the police communications centre throughout the pursuit was played to the jury as part of his evidence.

There was barely any other traffic about. The hatchback driver stayed in his lane most of the time, still able to reach speeds of about 80km/h, Kinane said.

His lights were on full beam, which made it harder for Cassidy to take aim and easy to see what was going on inside the hatchback.

The only times he saw Parata take hold of the steering wheel were each of the three or four seconds when Cassidy popped out the window with the rifle - an 106-year-old Enfield 303.

Kinane said Cassidy took his first shot at him but missed as they were leaving Onerahi at the roundabout on Culham and Riverside Drives.

"I could see the driver and the passenger talking, then the passenger grabbed the steering wheel and I wondered what was happening.

"He [Cassidy] pushed himself out the driver window, aimed the firearm directly at me and fired a shot," Kinane said.

Kinane said the bullet from a second shot on Fire Brigade Hill, near the city centre, hit his headlight.

At Raumanga Heights, a third shot failed, and the gun failed again on another attempt as they were heading back into the city.

The hatchback was faltering badly, Kinane said. He was worried Cassidy, who was clearly willing to turn a gun on police, might use it to steal a fresh getaway car from a member of the public.

Cassidy drove at two oncoming vehicles trying to force them off the road but fortunately they swerved past.

The hatchback finally stopped at Otaika. The pair were told to get out of the vehicle with their hands up.

Kinane said he noticed Parata still had one hand in the car. It was on the grip of the firearm, which seemed to be stuck beside the centre console.

Defence counsel John Maroney said Parata was only a passenger – there was no suggestion he fired the gun.

He was in a car being driven erratically by someone letting go of the steering wheel to fire a gun. Parata did what he had to do for his own safety.

The jury needed to consider what they would have done in Parata's situation, Maroney said.

The trial continues today.