Man flees and crashes car - twice
The hunt is on for a man who fled police in a car, crashed into another vehicle, drove the wrong way up a one-way street and leapt from his car before making a run for it.
The chase started on Mount Edgcumbe St, New Plymouth, at around 9am on Friday when a Toyota Corolla failed to stop for a routine police check.
Sergeant Grant Sawtell said the caucasian male driver ‘‘tried to escape’’ from police at 9.05am and ended up mounting a footpath on the corner of Morley St, before taking out a traffic light.
‘‘He was driving dangerously and recklessly,’’ Sawtell said.
The vehicle then took off along Devon St West at a ‘‘dangerous speed’’ and cut the corner up Dawson St, not stopping for a red light, before colliding with another car at ‘‘lowish speed’’, Sawtell said.
‘‘But he hasn’t stopped, that just knocked him off his track slightly.’’
Sawtell said the driver then took off along Fulford St and police abandoned the pursuit.
But the driver didn’t stop. ‘‘He’s then cut the corner and turned right onto Morley,’’ Sawtell said. ‘‘Then travelled onto Vivian St, the wrong way.
‘‘There was a lot of traffic at the time.’’
The vehicle then mounted the footpath near Vivian Street Osteopaths and Sawtell said a witness saw the driver ‘‘roll’’ out of the moving vehicle before it crashed into the brick wall of a garage and was ‘‘extensively’’ damaged. ‘‘He’s then fled the scene on foot.’’ Sawtell said the police want to hear from anyone who thinks they know the driver, who is described as a male caucasian and of a medium to slight build and height, or witnessed any of the pursuit and aftermath.
‘‘Call crimestoppers or phone the New Plymouth Police Station and ask for me,’’ Sawtell said.
Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111
New Plymouth Police Station:
(06) 759 5500