Police cars rammed in pistols-theft rampage
A Gore man told police he stole their squad car because he needed to jumpstart his own.
Hori Gemmell, 24, pleaded guilty to two charges of unlawfully possessing police pistols, two theft charges for taking the guns, stealing a police car and unlawfully possessing ammunition in public.
His escapade ended on August 16 when he was found in a wardrobe under a pile of clothes at a Te Tipua house.
Both Glock pistols have since been recovered.
Gemmell appeared in the Invercargill District Court via video link before Judge Russell Walker yesterday. He will be sentenced on January 21.
On August 14 a warrant to arrest Gemmell was issued in the Gore District Court. Later that day, between 11.41pm and 11.54pm, police saw
Gemmell driving east on Reaby Rd, Gore.
Police did a u-turn to catch up with him and also radioed another unit.
After turning into Beattie
St, a cul-de-sac, Gemmell reversed at speed, ramming the front of the police car.
The force of the impact shunted the patrol car backwards and buckled the bonnet.
He ran off up a driveway, and police followed around the property as Gemmell crawled through a hole in a gate, back to the street.
He then got into the patrol car and locked the doors.
The police officers smashed the driver’s door window and then fired a Taser at Gemmell.
He drove off in the patrol car, narrowly missing an officer, and drove along Broughton St at speed with full sirens and lights still on.
Officers in another car spotted him and gave chase onto Waimea St.
Gemmell stopped on the wrong side of the road, and the pursuing car stopped two to three metres past him. Gemmell then aggressively accelerated and hit the driver’s side door, the summary of facts says.
The officer driving the second car feared being hit again and accelerated out of the way. Gemmell drove eastward on Crewe St, stopping near George St.
He then unlocked the firearms safe in the car and removed two Glocks, each with 17 rounds of 9mm ammunition, before leaving on foot.
He told police he took the patrol car because he did not appreciate the way they spoke to him.
Gemmell said when he ran back to his car in Beattie St, his faulty starter motor meant he need a jump start, so he took the police vehicle instead.