KEY POINTS:
A driver "nearly died of fright" when a posse of police leaped out of a taxi and arrested him and his passenger in Hamilton at the weekend.
The car was being pursued by beat section cops on foot in central city Victoria St about 1.20am on Saturday.
When it looked like they had no chance of catching up with the car, a taxi driver offered the cops a lift.
The green Subaru station wagon was wanted in connection with a robbery of a man near the Waikato Museum carpark.
A 17-year-old man had been enticed into a car by two men who then assaulted him, demanding his shoes. He managed to escape but damaged his knee and was treated at Waikato Hospital.
All the police had to go on was a description of the car.
"The offender's car was stopped at lights but before we could get to it the lights went green and as we got to the Collingwood St intersection the scenario was repeated," said Constable Craig Taylor.
"Just then a taxi pulled up and the driver yelled at us to get in, so with four burly cops and their equipment squashed in we radioed for back up."
The taxi caught up with the car in nearby Mill St where the pair got the "shock of their lives" to find themselves suddenly surrounded by police.
"The driver nearly died of fright and just put his hands up, a quick search revealed the victim's torn shirt on the back seat," Mr Taylor said.
An 18-year-old Hamilton man and a 16-year-old Auckland youth were arrested in relation to the incident.
Police are now keen to find the helpful taxi driver, a male of African descent, and thank him.
- NZPA
