A prisoner has been arrested and returned to custody after allegedly assaulting Corrections staff and carjacking a vehicle during a medical appointment at Waikato Hospital today.
Police said they were notified of a person escaping custody and assaulting two Corrections officers outside Waikato Hospital at around 12.30pm.
Detective Inspector Darrell Harpur said the alleged offender then carjacked a vehicle in the hospital carpark and fled the scene.
“Police made area enquiries to locate the man in the stolen vehicle, before it was sighted by the Eagle helicopter in Te Awamutu at around 3.25pm.
“The Eagle Helicopter tracked the vehicle until police staff on the ground located it, and was successfully spiked on Cambridge Rd, Leamington around 3.40pm.”
He said the vehicle came to a stop just off Cambridge Rd, five minutes later, where he was taken into custody.
“This was a rapidly evolving incident, and I would like to commend staff who swiftly formulated and executed a plan to locate and arrest the man involved before further people were brought in harm’s way.”
Spring Hill Correction Facility general manager Scott Walker said a full operational review of the incident would be carried out.
“As the review will be ongoing, we are limited in the amount of information that we are able to provide at this stage.”
Corrections pointed out tens of thousands of prisoner escorts were carried out each year between prisons, courts, specialist medical facilities and rehabilitation providers.
“Any time a prisoner is required to be escorted outside of a prison, our focus is on safety, security and minimising risk to the public, our staff and prisoners.”
A 25-year-old man was due to appear in the Hamilton District Court tomorrow facing numerous serious charges.