A van was battered in Hastings this morning after it was rammed several times following a domestic altercation
A woman who witnessed van full of people being repeatedly rammed in central Hastings this morning has described the scene as "chaotic".
The Grays Rd resident, who did not want to be named, said she woke up to the sound of several loud bangs and headed outside in her dressing gown to see absolute carnage unfolding at the Grays Rd and Heretaunga St West roundabout.
"I heard lots of people yelling and screaming I decided at that point to run down there. When I got there a van was being rammed by the woman's ex-partner in his Honda Odyssey.
"He ended up getting out of his van and tried to climb into their van and grab her out. He was yelling and swearing and saying he was going to get her."
understood a female asking for safety, after an altercation with a male, and found refuge in the van carrying five or six people to work for the day. Early reports said the male then drove a vehicle into the van multiple times down Omahu Rd, with the van rolling onto its side.
A van was rammed multiple times in Hastings this morning. Photo File
An occupant of the van said the male motorist rammed the van numerous times. "He chased us and rammed us all the way down Omahu Rd," the man said. "He manoeuvred us into the roundabout and rammed us while we were stationary".
The Hastings witness said the man rammed the van a further three times after getting out and approaching the vehicle, before he turned his car towards her.
"He freaked out and got back into his car and took off down the road down the sidewalk and aimed at me. I got out of the way but he almost hit an elderly man that had stopped in another vehicle on the side of the road and then he sped off down Grays Rd."
She described the scene he left behind as "horrific".
"It was chaotic. The van was absolutely munted. Both sides of it had been hit, it was all crushed, and there was petrol leaking out.
"Part of the body had actually split and we could see the fluids running out. I told everybody to get out of the van and asked if everybody was okay."
A Hawke's Bay District Health Board spokesperson said as of 10am two females in their 20s and 40s were being assessed in the Emergency Department and a male in his 20s and female in her 30s were both in a stable condition.
After speaking with the van's passengers the witness said there was a consensus that the man who repeatedly rammed the van may have been under the influence of methamphetamine.
"He was in a fit of rage, he was just something else honestly. When I first got there I thought he was going up to the van to try help but he was yelling and screaming; that's when I realised something wasn't right.
"He was just crazy with no intent to stop at all and he was trying to be as reckless and damaging as possible. I think you'd have to be [under the influence of drugs] to do that to somebody."
Beresford St resident Ella Ayto said she was fast asleep when she awoke to a loud bang and what she thought was a man angrily yelling. "I heard a crash and looked outside to see what was happening. It was a loud bang and there were some people outside and a guy who sounded very angry."
Ms Ayto said by the time she looked outside she could see people in high visibility vests walking around and assumed emergency services had already been called. The van was upright with a large dent in the back, she said.
"It looked like the people who were in the van were out and walking around. No one looked I injured. When I went outside it looked like everything was under control."
Cordons were in place near the scene early this morning, including Heretaunga Street West from Townshend Street to Grays Road, but the roads had since reopened.
The Serious Crash Unit had completed their scene investigation by mid morning and further inquiries are being made into the crash, a police spokesperson said.
