Rollie Heke appears in court
Rollie James Heke has been remanded without plea at Rotorua District Court after facing three charges of attempting to murder police officers.
Four accomplices, who can now be named, also appeared on Friday facing charges of accessory to attempted murder after the fact.
Natasha Dawn Telford, 43, Joseph Manunui Long, 42, Monique Eggleton, 31, and Rangimaria Haami, 62, all face the accessory charges, with Eggleton also charged with possession of methamphetamine.
All appeared via Audio Visual Link and have been remanded in custody ahead of an appearance at Rotorua High Court on September 13.
Heke, 36, spent 12 days on the run after allegedly firing at three police officers with a semiautomatic, military-style weapon on the outskirts of Morrinsville, in the early hours of August 13.
Court documents show Heke faces eight charges in total - three of attempting to murder a police officer, possession of a semiautomatic firearm, possession of ammunition, failure to stop and two charges of possession of equipment to manufacture methamphetamine.
New information in what was a fast-moving manhunt on Thursday led police to Kaingaroa Forest to the 36-year-old who’d been on the run for almost two weeks after allegedly firing at police officers on the outskirts of Morrinsville on August 13.
‘‘Our team had been doing a whole lot of good work and as a result of a lot of analysis and information we got led to this address in Kaingaroa Forest township and went there about 1.30am,’’ Waikato District Commander Superintendent Bruce Bird said in the wake of his arrest on Friday morning.
It was clear Heke had received help to evade police.
In the last two weeks police had received a considerable amount of information from the public and Bird wanted to thank all of the public who provided information.
The arrest was a result of ‘‘reputable and hard work’’ by a large team of police officers and Armed Offenders Squad members across the North Island who Bird said worked tirelessly for the last two weeks to gain a peaceful outcome.
‘‘It’s been a fantastic team effort well supported by the public.’’