Stop pursuits, urges gran

The scene of the deadly car crash in Te Puke. Photo / Claire Fraser

The grandmother of a man killed after a police pursuit says the police are putting lives at risk by continuing with chases.

Michael Adam Kaui Keepa, 25, and Harley Kendrick Sean Wilson, 21, both of Levin, died when the stolen 1996 Toyota Hilux Surf they were in crashed north of Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, about 5.35am on Friday.

Keepa's grandmother Lee Keepa said her family was "devastated" by his death. It was particularly hard because his 3-year-old daughter had lost her dad.

"The boys did wrong," she said.

But by chasing a speeding vehicle, police were increasing the risk to other road users, when it was likely those fleeing could be caught later.

This year, 18 people have died on New Zealand roads as a result of police pursuits. This number includes drivers being pursued by police and others who have been the victims of fleeing drivers.

In Northland on Friday a driver fleeing police narrowly avoided a head-on collision, rammed a police car, crashed down a bank and fled on foot. Police were last night still hunting for the driver.

Lee Keepa raised Keepa from the age of 2. She said he was no angel and had been in trouble before but he was a great dad.

"He would change, bath and feed her - anything that mums usually do, he would do. I was proud of him, actually."

He'd recently split from his daughter's mother.

Western Bay of Plenty area commander, Inspector Mike Clement, said that Keepa and Wilson first failed to stop for police in Mt Maunganui where they were speeding in a 50 km/h residential area.

"The vehicle was pursued by police towards Papamoa. During this time, the vehicle took extreme actions to evade police, including driving around a set of road spikes, which had been used in an effort to stop the vehicle."

The pursuit was abandoned due to the high speeds reached, but was started again near Te Puke. It was about to be abandoned again when officers lost sight of the vehicle.

"A search of the area revealed it had left the road and hit a tree."

Both men died at the scene.

Clement said an Independent Police Conduct Authority investigation was underway into the crash.

Meanwhile, a coroner's inquest into another pursuit-related death has found that Jason Luke Downes, 25, died trying to evade police while driving at speed without his car lights on.

Coroner Tim Scott found police Constable Rob Illingworth had clocked Downes racing another car at 128km/h in a 50km/h zone in Palmerston North. He had tried to stop the racing cars by flashing his lights, but the cars had then switched off their lights.