The male driver of a stolen car who died in a police pursuit in Otara today was 15 years old. Police have today confirmed the teen was also the driver of a car spotted driving the wrong way on an Auckland motorway last month. Police said the 15-year-old was Morrocco Tai, of Otara.
The brother of a teen killed in a police chase while driving a stolen car in South Auckland is now wanted by authorities after going on the run while on bail from prison to attend the funeral.
Morrocco Mal Tai, 15, died on Monday after the car he was driving crashed in Otara in the early hours of the morning.
Tai had fled police in the stolen car and when it crashed his two female passengers, aged 16, were seriously injured.
A Corrections spokesperson would not comment on the specifics of the situation.
"He was not in the custody of Corrections staff while bailed," the spokesperson said.
"When he failed to return at the stipulated time, staff at the prison notified police."
Police confirmed they had been notified about "a prisoner who has breached bail".
A spokesperson said "inquiries are ongoing" to locate the alleged absconder.
Tai was well known to police and was facing charges when he died.
Photo posted to Morrocco Tai's Facebook page showing the teen posed outside Middlemore Hospital after he was bitten by a police dog. Photograph/Facebook
Those charges including one for and alleged aggravated robbery were withdrawn hours after he died.
Tai's family have declined to speak about his death.
But one of his siblings posted on social media after a raft of online comments about Tai.
"All you f**king haters out their saying sh*t about my brother saying he deserved it and good riddance y'all can just shut your mouth up for real," the post read.
"Sh*ts real and hard we could only help him out so much.
"You dam cops know very dam well what you did to him why the accident happened. All you cops do is f**king lie cover each others shit up to save your pathetic ass on the line."
Police are still investigating Tai's death.
Because he died during an active pursuit the Independent Police Conduct Authority are also investigating.
Scene of the crash that killed Morrocco Tai. New Zealand Herald photorgraph
Earlier this week the Herald revealed that not long before his death Tai was bitten by a police dog and hospitalised after police pursued a stolen car in which he was a passenger.
Tai discharged himself from hospital eight days later - just nine days before he died.
The hours before the fatal crash were detailed on the teenager's social media site, with Morrocco first posting at 12.33am on Monday asking "Whats [sic] everyone upto" and declaring in his comments that he was "whip riding" and "banging in a whip".
Whip is slang for car - derived from the whip used to control the horses on a stagecoach.
Morocco followed the post up six minutes later with another declaring "the violent offenders are out mf [sic]..".
