Police had to deploy road spikes five times to finally end a 75km-long fleeing driver incident in Waikato today.
At about 11am, police received reports of a Subaru vehicle driving “dangerously”, and overtaking vehicles through road works in Te Kuiti.
Police said the vehicle was located and officers signalled for it to stop, but the vehicle fled and was not pursued.
“It continued to drive in a dangerous manner on State Highway 3 towards Hamilton, where more members of the public called to report its erratic driving,” police said.
“These updates of the vehicle’s location greatly assisted the police response, by allowing resources to be deployed ahead of the offending vehicle.”
The vehicle was then sighted by police in Te Awamutu, where it was followed towards the town by an unmarked police unit.
Police said road spikes were successfully deployed by officers about halfway between Te Awamutu and Hamilton at Ōhaupō, which slowed the vehicle as it approached the Hamilton Airport.
As the vehicle continued toward Glenview in Hamilton, road spikes were “successfully deployed a further four times in quick succession”.
Police said officers then followed in a low-speed pursuit of the vehicle into Hamilton.
“The offending vehicle was eventually stopped on Tristram Street in Hamilton by utilising a tactical vehicle intervention.
“Two people were taken into police custody without further incident.”
One 33-year-old male, from New Plymouth, would appear tomorrow in the Hamilton District Court.
Police said he would be charged with dangerous driving, aggravated failure to stop, and driving while disqualified.
A 30-year-old woman, also from New Plymouth, was assisting with inquiries, police added.
