He just wanted a word
Video of a low-speed police pursuit around the rocks at Te Kohanga, Ahipara, on Thursday (see the Northland Age Facebook page), has prompted a mixed public response.
Some saw it as funny, others as outrageous behaviour by the fleeing driver, and a few as a waste of taxpayers’ money. And it is unlikely that the driver will ever be charged.
The pursuing officer said he had just wanted to have a quiet word with the driver about the condition of his Mitsubishi RVR, including its lack of a muffler. The registered owner had told police that the car had changed hands the day before the incident.
The pursuit began near Ahipara, proceeding along Foreshore Rd at a speed of 45km/h, reaching 70km/h on the road to Te Kohanga. The driver then took to the beach and headed for the rocks, with the police 4WD in pursuit.
The police officer managed to get ahead of his quarry a few hundred metres around the rocks, the fleeing driver performing a U-turn and heading back to Te Kohanga, at about which time the police vehicle blew a tyre, and the pursuit was over.
The Mitsubishi was later found abandoned at the Gumfields lookout.
A constable had recognised two people in the vehicle earlier in the day, the officer added, but that would not substantiate the laying of charges from the pursuit. In any event the only offence committed had been failing to stop, which was not serious enough to warrant any more expenditure of police time.
“None of this would have happened if the driver had stopped when he was asked to,” he added.
“All I wanted was a quiet chat.”