IPCA finds police acted appropriately when they briefly pursued a ute that went onto crash, killing two people. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
A watchdog has found police acted appropriately during a pursuit in Ōtaki near Wellington, where two people died in a crash after the pursuit was abandoned.
On 26 April last year, police briefly pursued a stolen Ford Courier ute travelling south from Levin on State Highway 1 that had been involved in an aggravated robbery in Ōtaki.
The pursuit was abandoned due to excessive speed.
The ute eventually crashed head on into another vehicle after driving north in the southbound lane of the expressway north of Ōtaki.
The driver of the ute, 16-year-old Reihana Hawea, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another passenger, Tama Whakarau, later succumbed to his injuries in hospital, while a third passenger sustained serious injuries but survived the crash.
The four occupants of the other car, a Toyota Fortuner, sustained injuries ranging from serious to moderate, but all survived.
Following an investigation, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) concluded that, overall, police managed the fleeing driver incident appropriately.
It noted police had considered closing the road to minimise risks to other road users, but the option was deemed unfeasible in the circumstances involved.
The authority did identify some minor breaches of the fleeing driver policy, and recommended police amend the policy to specify that when a police vehicle was carrying crew members, those crew members were responsible for managing police communications during pursuits.
Police respond to report
Police said in a statement they accepted the IPCA's findings and were considering its recommendation to change their fleeing driver policy.
"The outcome of this incident, which was the death of two young people and serious injuries to five members of the public, is a tragedy and was completely avoidable," relieving Central District Commander Inspector Ross Grantham said.
"Police use every serious incident as an opportunity to learn and we note the minor breaches of our police policy raised by the IPCA and have taken these onboard," Grantham said.
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