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Police are not ruling out further charges being laid after a bizarre fatal car crash in Mid Canterbury last week.
A 35-year-old man is to appear in Ashburton District Court on Monday charged with failing to supply a blood sample after a young woman was killed in the crash near the Rakaia Bridge on State Highway 1 on Wednesday night.
The body of 22-year-old Ashburton woman Melissa Brown was found in a field hundreds of metres from the crash site and it is believed she may have been swept down an irrigation canal after the crash.
Ms Brown was understood to have been the front-seat passenger in a black Toyota Tercel that left the road, crashed through a sign and landed in the canal.
Police questioned a 35-year-old man and a 16-year-old youth, both from Ashburton, who were in the car with Ms Brown. They hitchhiked to Ashburton after the crash.
Police were alerted to the crash by a passing truck driver and found Ms Brown's body after the Westpac rescue helicopter was called to the scene.
The Toyota was sent to Christchurch for forensic examination, which is expected to be completed this week.
A police spokeswoman told NZPA today no further charges would be considered until the vehicle had been examined and police received further reports.
Police have declined to release the cause of Ms Brown's death after a post mortem examination last week.
- NZPA
