Police aim gun at the wrong man
An innocent landscaper had a police gun aimed at his head as he was forced to lie face down on State Highway 1.
Despite having little resemblance to Joshua Kite - who has been on the run from police for five days since shooting at two unarmed officers in Northland Regan Ingley, of Plimmerton, was mistaken for the fugitive.
Being forced to lie in the middle of the highway with at least one police rifle aimed at his head was understandable given Kite’s actions, he said.
But what riled Ingley was that, even after police knew they had the wrong man, he was yet to receive an apology or even a call to check he was OK.
His ordeal happened about 11.30pm on Sunday as he drove back from visiting a friend in Feilding, he said.
Driving into Otaki, he passed a truck and, shortly after, noticed a police car following him. Soon, two more patrol cars arrived.
South of Te Horo on SH1, there was ‘‘all of a sudden, lights, sirens, three abreast across the road’’.
He pulled over and was told over the loudspeaker that armed police were present, and he had to get out of his vehicle.
Ingley said one officer told him to drop his keys, while another told him to put them on the car’s boot.
Police shouted at him to move towards them backwards with his hands in the air but he looked over his shoulder. ‘‘They shouted, ‘face the front’.’’ When he reached police he was made to get on the ground.
‘‘They were yelling at me, ‘who is in the car?’ Nobody was in the car.
‘‘There was a rifle trained at me. [The police officer] was like ‘stay calm, man; just relax’.’’
But relaxing was hard - at least one rifle trained at his head, he lay face down in the highway, aware a truck and trailer were coming down the highway towards them.
‘‘I kept saying, ‘what is going on?’ One said, ‘never f ...... mind’.’’
Officers found his licence and realised they had the wrong man.
‘‘They stood me up and said, ‘we are looking for Joshua Kite’.’’
Realising their mistake, the officers told him to keep driving home. ‘‘I said, ‘‘I can’t drive now, I’m shaking’.’’
Two days ‘‘pissed off.’’
Kite is Maori, 180cm tall, of medium to solid build, and considered armed and dangerous.
Ingley is Pakeha, 167cm tall, slim, and neither armed nor dangerous. ‘‘I can see the resemblance,’’ he said sarcastically. ‘‘We both have two eyes and a nose.’’
In a written statement, Manawatu police area commander Sarah Stewart said armed officers stopped the car and ‘‘spoke to the occupant’’ after receiving information that Kite was inside.
‘‘It was a very short time period until his identity was confirmed and, at that point, the senior officer spoke with the driver and explained the situation and reasons for tactics and, throughout, ensured his welfare was taken care of.
‘‘When it became clear the driver was not Mr Kite, he was released to go on his way.’’
Police were asked why they had not apologised and whether they disputed Ingley’s claims, but the department would not elaborate. later, he was still