K’ Road chase: Youth’s ‘spear tackle’ spinal injuries deemed accidental by IPCA

The youth was arrested after he tried to steal a motor scooter on Karangahape Road in Auckland. Photo / Kit Lawrence

Police were justified in using force against a youth who suffered injuries to his face and spine when arrested by an officer, an inquiry has found.

The youth, 17, complained that an off-duty officer “spear-tackled” him down a steep hill during a foot chase and arrest in Auckland in May 2022.

The youth also said the officer forcefully applied a knee to his back. The teenager sustained injuries to his face and two vertebrae in his lower spine.

But the Independent Police Complaints Authority [IPCA] has found the injuries were accidental, and not due to deliberate use of force.

It said the officer did not fall with or force his knee to the youth’s back and accepted the officer’s version of events, that they both slipped and fell.

The youth underwent surgery to stabilise the vertebrae in his back, and then discharged himself from hospital against medical advice.

On the day of his injury, the youth and a friend tried to steal a motor scooter in Karangahape Rd, Auckland, according to the IPCA report released on Tuesday.

Members of the public confronted the youths, who ran away. An off-duty officer saw the youths and pursued one of them on foot.

The officer caught up to the youth and grabbed him by the shoulders to arrest him.

They lost their footing, and both fell to the ground, with the officer falling on to the back of the young man, identified in the report as Mr X.

“According to Mr X, they slid over the concrete footpath, with the man pushing his head into the footpath.

“When they came to a stop, the man told him he was under arrest. Mr X says this is when he learned that the man was a police officer.”

The IPCA said the officer denied he had his knee on the youth’s back, and none of the witnesses reported seeing that happen.

“At the time, the officer spoke to the Northern Communications Centre and explicitly advised he did not have the youth pinned to the ground as he was concerned the youth may have sustained a back injury,” the authority said.

“We accept that the officer did not force his knee onto the youth’s back.”

Police action in taking the youth directly to hospital was reasonable after they were told an ambulance would be delayed.

“Given the officer’s risk assessment about the danger of tackling someone in the particular circumstances, we believe that he did not intend to tackle the young man and accept his account that the fall and its aftermath was an unfortunate and unforeseen accident rather than a deliberate action,” authority chair Judge Colin Doherty said.

Acting Superintendent Grant Tetzlaff, the relieving Auckland City District Commander, accepted the findings and said the officer remained a valued member of New Zealand Police.