Police in standoff ‘amazing’
The police effort to resolve a 10-hour standoff with a man atop the entrance to Wellington’s Terrace Tunnel has been labelled ‘‘amazing’’ by a former police negotiator.
The 31-year-old Wellington man stood on the beams above the tunnel from about noon until just before 10.30pm on Thursday. He was allegedly involved in a head-on car crash shortly before climbing onto the beams.
Former police negotiator Lance Burdett, who led talks with Jan Molenaar during an almost two-day siege in Napier in 2009, said the police operation on Thursday was extraordinary. ‘‘In crisis situations, the longer it goes on the more chance it ends with someone hurting themselves. [For negotiators] to go for that length of time is amazing, to be fair.’’
More than 20 police staff, including the armed offenders squad, negotiators, and dog teams, were involved in the operation.
The section of State Highway 1 – the main entrance to the capital – was closed throughout, and it would have been tempting for police to try to force the man and end the disruption, Burdett said. ‘‘To everyone’s credit, no-one did that. They obviously had a very good rapport going with the man, and that’s the point I want to stress. There could have been a terrible ending. In the circumstances, it was the best outcome.’’
The man eventually came down after talking with a family member for about an hour.
He had cut his forearms with a knife during the ordeal. He was arrested and charged with dangerous driving causing injury, and possession of an offensive weapon.
Wellington District Commander Inspector Chris Bensemann said the incident became a matter of patience, and police were glad it was resolved without further injury.
‘‘We are aware of the major disruption this caused to traffic around the city and police would like to again thank the public for their patience and understanding.’’
The man was in police custody and was due to undergo a medical assessment, Bensemann said.
During the standoff, three doubledecker buses – driven by Tranzurban staff with police officers on board – were manoeuvred into position underneath the man as a safety precaution.
A fourth bus, driven by Keven Snelgrove, was positioned behind the front three. Snelgrove, Tranzit Group’s transport and operations director, has been in the bus industry for 40 years and said over that time, he had seen schools evacuated because of flooding but Thursday’s event was ‘‘definitely surprising’’.
‘‘We are always prepared to turn out and help assist our community in any adverse event.’’
Five experienced staff from Tranzurban were called on to help police and were supported on the ground by the officers and company management.
‘‘We assisted the police operation by providing part of our double-deck bus fleet and were happy to do so,’’ Snelgrove said.