Police Accept IPCA Report Into Fleeing Driver Incident In Kaitaia
Northland District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill:
Police acknowledge the findings by the
Independent Police Conduct Authority
relating to a
pursuit prior to a fatal crash in Kaitaia.
On 10
October 2020, officers noticed a vehicle speeding and
suspecting the
driver to be intoxicated, they
attempted to stop the car.
The driver failed to stop
for Police and a pursuit was initiated
lasting
around 2 minutes 44 seconds. Due to the
high speeds the offending vehicle was
driving, the
pursuit was abandoned. However, just moments later the
offending
vehicle crashed into a power pole. Sadly,
one of the passengers was killed in
the crash and
three other passengers and the driver were
injured.
The offender pled guilty to one charge of
causing death while driving with
excess blood
alcohol, failing to stop for Police and three charges of
causing
injury while driving with excess blood
alcohol. He was sentenced to 11 months
home
detention and disqualified from driving for three
years.
Northland District Commander Superintendent
Tony Hill accepts the findings by
the IPCA that the
pursuit prior to the crash was not justified:
“We
would like to take this opportunity to extend our sympathies
to the
family of the victim who was killed in the
crash. This is a worst-case
outcome in a situation
like this and our thoughts continue to be with
them.
“The intention of the staff involved was to
prevent further harm on our
roads by stopping a
driver we now know was intoxicated however on
this
occasion we accept that they should not have
pursued the vehicle and instead
made follow up
enquiries in relation to the fleeing driver,” says
Supt.
Hill.
“We also note that subsequent
to this crash there has been a revision
to
Police’s fleeing driver policy following the
Fleeing Driver Review
involving Police and the
IPCA.
“An employment investigation was carried out
and the outcome of this are
confidential, but I can
say both officers remain working for the New
Zealand
Police.”