KEY POINTS:
Embarrassed Hamilton police tonight were still hunting three men who broke out of a police van in Hamilton today.
They were the second group of prisoners to escape from police vehicles in four days.
The three men, Thomas Te Rangi, Darren William Snowden and Richard Thomas Joseph, fled from a van this morning while it was halted at traffic lights in suburban Melville.
The three, all remand prisoners, were on their way to Waikeria Prison.
Last Thursday two men bolted from a police van in Palmerston North.
One gave himself up the next day but the other man is still on the loose.
Hamilton police were widening their search tonight and asking public for help but added they were "confident of a timely arrest."
Acting Detective Sergeant Dave Hopkins of the Hamilton CIB said the escapee s were Hamilton locals and expected them to be predominantly reliant on contacts in the city.
However, Mr Hopkins said the threesome might try to flee the city.
Two of them were known to have contacts in the Bay of Plenty and Taupo regions.
The Palmerston North incident was the sixth time in a year prisoners had busted free from police vans.
After last week's embarrassment Palmerston North acting area commander Brett Calkin said an investigation was under way into how the men were able to break free but the results would not be made public for "operational reasons".
In today's dash-for-freedom, the three escapers fled into a bush-covered gully.
Several police units converged on Melville to establish cordons and search areas where locals had reported seeing the men and extra dogs were brought in.
Like Mr Calkin last week Hamilton area commander Inspector Rob Lindsay would say little about today's escape but an "operational review" was under to determine how the men escaped and how to prevent a recurrence.
"We've identified the method of escape and we're happy that we've mitigated further risk but we're not in a position to discuss the details of the escape for security reasons," he said.
Police asked people in the search area to stay inside "so as not to spoil any spoor" and for safety reasons.
Te Rangi, 19, aka Steely Terangi, is described as a male Maori of medium build, 170cm tall last seen wearing a grey sweatshirt.
Snowden, 22, is a male Maori of medium build 168cm tall with long braided hair wearing dark pants and a dark grey T-shirt with an orange/red WS on it.
Joseph, aka Richard Midwood, 30, is a male Maori 168cm tall of thin-medium build last seen wearing shorts and a white singlet.
While the trio continue to elude searchers, police did have one success on the side today.
They spotted a stolen car at the back of one property, picked up one man for questioning and then discovered another man they were talking to at the same place was a wanted long-term Hamilton burglar.
He was nabbed when a woman chatting to police shouted that a cellphone the offender was holding had been stolen from her.
He fled but a woman police officer brought him down in a copybook police tackle.
- NZPA
