A man who allegedly drove a stolen taxi the wrong way down an Auckland motorway last night has appeared in court.
Jared Wikeepa, 40, sparked a police pursuit after he flagged a Cheap Cabs taxi in west Auckland, then allegedly threatened the driver and stole the vehicle.
He is charged
with intentionally damaging a vehicle, threatening to kill, assault, driving while forbidden, failing to give his details to police, failing to stop and stealing a vehicle.
Wikeepa's lawyer, Carl Dunne, applied for name suppression when he appeared in Waitakere District Court this afternoon because he had "long-standing mental health issues''.
He had recently been weaned off anti-psychotic medication, Mr Dunne said.