Fugitive captured by police
Police peacefully ended their hunt for an armed fugitive yesterday when the man surrendered to officers after a stand-off in the Palmerston North suburb of Cloverlea.
The fugitive was seen being driven out of a police cordon at Benmore Ave in a detective’s car. He was wearing a black beanie.
The fugitive surrendered himself at 4.15pm, said Manawatu area commander inspector Sarah Stewart.
“I would particularly like to acknowledge the patience, assistance and support of the local community, who have rallied together to support each other and the police while we worked to resolve the situation.
“Our focus will now turn to facilitating the safe return of people to their homes, and on the criminal investigation that will follow.
“This will include ongoing scene examinations at the property involved.” Earlier armed officers entered a house in the suburb of Cloverlea, where the major manhunt was under way.
A person inside the cordon said shortly after noon that the armed offenders squad could be seen going into a house on the corner of Rosedale Cres and Willowstream Grove.
Police had earlier appealed to the fugitive to hand himself in after he appeared to post a message to authorities on social media.
At a press conference, Ms Stewart said the lockdown in Cloverlea was “incredibly stressful” for the community.
“This is an operation where we have an absolute focus that everyone is safe with no one hurt or injured. We have the absolute focus on resolving this safely and would really like [the fugitive] to hand himself into police.”
He needs to do this “for the community’s sake and for his own sake”, Ms Stewart said.
“We are hoping and wanting [the fugitive] to give himself up . . . so we can resolve this successfully and safely.”
In a Facebook post that appeared to be written by the fugitive, he criticised police.
“I won’t [sic] the police to know all u had to do was let me speak to. One person.”
Ms Stewart said the fugitive had a number of warrants to arrest for a range of offences, including driving and dishonesty offences, and when police tried to stop him on Thursday he was believed to be in possession of a firearm.
Police were in communication with him, she said.
She said specialist staff worked to resolve the situation and staff had been “refreshed” with new officers.
Police were “absolutely overwhelmed” by support from the community, she said.
It was believed that he was not with anyone else.
A friend of the fugitive told the Herald that he had spoken to him on the phone.
“He just wants to talk to his ex and his kids,” said the friend, who wished not to be named.
A police helicopter, meanwhile, had conducted an aerial surveillance of Cloverlea while residents reported hearing glass smashing and dogs “going off.”
A Palmerston North rescue helicopter has also been sighted in the area yesterday afternoon.
An ambulance and a firetruck also arrived at the scene and entered the cordon.
A number of police vehicles with lights flashing and at speed were earlier seen driving through the Cloverlea Tavern cordon.
They included two police cars, a large black SUV with tinted windows and large white van, also with tinted windows.
An eyewitness from inside the cordon had seen a small silver car “fly past” his house at speed with a police car in pursuit.
The Fire Service was also present.
Workers from the tavern put a call out for those needing a change of clothes to take advantage of items gathered from the community.
The number of people in the carpark was estimated with at least 100 cars and at least 100 people seeking refuge at the temporary welfare centre.
A number of residents in the area were forced to sleep elsewhere on Thursday night, as officers carried out their work.
St Michael’s Church marae in the suburb of Highbury opened its doors to Cloverlea residents unable to return to their homes.
Benmore Ave resident Robin Inwood said he and his wife stayed by the cordon until early yesterday, hoping to return home. But when they found out marae had opened their doors, they decided to stay there for the night.
He said police escorted about 30 people to their homes.
Most were people who required urgent medication, he said.
Police had checked the homes before residents entered and they weren’t then allowed to leave.
A Maori warden at the marae said about 20 people stayed overnight, including a family with a young child. The marae was to be open until the cordon lifted.
"I would particularly like to acknowledge the patience, assistance and support of the local community, who have rallied together to support each other and the police while we worked to resolve the situation." Inspector Sarah Stewart