Officer cops blast over his driving

A police officer who drove the wrong way up a street and collided with a fleeing driver has been found to be in breach of official pursuit policy.

The crash happened early on December 19, 2017, on Hobson St in central Auckland.

The officer was searching for a Subaru which had earlier been involved in a police pursuit that was called off near the Waterview tunnel.

When the driver was spotted again driving recklessly and at times on the wrong side of the road towards the city, the policeman left Auckland Central Police station and drove briefly the wrong way up Hobson St to get to Cook St as fast as possible.

But the “wanted” Subaru turned on to Hobson St, going through a red light, and collided with the police officer’s car. Both cars were damaged but no one was injured.

The fleeing driver was later charged with failing to stop and reckless driving and was sentenced to two months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for six months.

But the Independent Police Conduct Authority found the officer breached the police’s fleeing driver policy because his driving was not necessary to perform his duty.

“There was no reason at all for the officer to attempt to locate the vehicle after the pursuit had been abandoned,” said the authority chairman, Judge Colin Doherty.

Auckland City District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus said the officer had had really good intentions but he had breached police policy.