Man killed in chase tragedy took innocent life in previous crash
A man involved in a fatal police pursuit near Nelson had previously killed a person in a boozefuelled smash and was wanted for dishonesty-related offending.
Phillip Stretch, 33, was a passenger in a car that crashed during a police chase, killing the two occupants and an innocent motorist on State Highway 6 at Hope, south of Nelson, about 5.40am on Sunday.
It is understood Stretch was wanted for dishonesty-related offending, believed to be burglary.
Both he and the driver of the offending vehicle, Johnathan Tairakena, 25, were well-known criminals and disqualified from driving.
The woman in the other car was 53-year-old Carmen Marie Yanko, whose family said they were ‘‘heartbroken and reeling from this senseless tragedy’’.
‘‘She lived to be a mother and was there for us always,’’ a family statement said.
‘‘Carmen loved and lived fiercely and will be terribly missed by her family and friends.’’
The crash prompted police minister Stuart Nash to seek an update on joint police and Independent Police Conduct Authority review of pursuits, a report on which is expected later this year.
Tasman district commander Superintendent Mike Johnson said the chase happened after police tried to stop a vehicle while looking for a wanted person on Gladstone Rd in Richmond.
The vehicle kept going, overtook a truck, moved onto the wrong side of the road, and collided with a vehicle travelling north, he said.
‘‘Tragically three people have died as a result, two of the deceased were from the fleeing vehicle and the third person was an innocent member of the public,’’ Johnson said.
Stretch was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at the age of 17, after killing a passenger in a crash in 2001.
He pleaded guilty to 14 charges – five of the charges, including drink-driving causing death, resulted from the crash that killed Jamie Kelly, 19.
Kelly was one of four passengers in a car being driven by Stretch, who crashed after losing control on a bend at Mariri, near Motueka, on May 31, 2001.
Kelly, a back-seat passenger, was thrown from the car and landed in the estuary. She suffered head and chest injuries and died within minutes, but her body was not found until the next day. Police estimated Stretch was driving between 130kmh and 140kmh.
He was drinking bourbon as he drove and had six times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
Stretch was jailed again in 2003, for eight months, after driving while disqualified, unlawfully taking two motor vehicles and theft while on parole. The court heard Stretch was intoxicated when he stole one of the cars in December 2002. He entered a property and got into a truck, which was unlocked and had the keys in the ignition. Stretch drove off in the truck, but stopped a short distance away when the engine failed.
Tairakena was jailed for six months in 2010 for a string of burglary and theft offences.
Johnson was also unable to confirm details about the crash that killed Tairakena, Stretch and a third person on Sunday, but said police had been seeking the ‘‘particular person we were looking for, for a period of time’’.
Police had pursued the car for about 6 kilometres and were still chasing the fleeing driver when the crash happened. The incident would be investigated internally and the Independent Police Conduct Authority had been formally notified.
Johnson said it was too early to say whether police made the right call in pursuing the vehicle and he would not comment on whether pursuits should be carried out.
It is believed Yanko was on her way to set up her regular stall at Nelson’s Sunday market, selling various antiques and collectables, when she was hit.
Monty’s Sunday Market manager Jason Knight said the market organising team was ‘‘devastated’’ and ‘‘shocked’’ to hear Yanko had died.