Shaken witnesses hit by vehicle during Gisborne police chase

Two workers were caught up in a car chase in Gisborne on Tuesday morning when their ute was hit by the offending car after it swerved through the Gladstone Rd/Roebuck Rd roundabout. Photo / Screenshot from Kevin Hollis Glass & Aluminium CCTV

Workers from a scaffolding company came perilously close to serious injury or worse as they swerved to avoid a head-on collision with a car during a police chase this week.

The allegedly stolen vehicle was being followed by police about 7.30am on Tuesday.

Two Gisborne Scaffolding workers were returning to their Gladstone Rd depot in a double-cab ute when the car flew through the Roebuck Rd/Gladstone Rd roundabout.

The workers were approaching the intersection from the Childers Rd side.

“The car came straight at them,” Gisborne Scaffolding director Miriam Allan told the Gisborne Herald.

“Our driver managed to swerve just enough to miss a full head-on crash. They had nowhere else to go.

“As it was, the car hit them on the right front corner, and our ute suffered extensive damage.”

Allan said the two men were both shaken up.

“They are very lucky to be alive.”

She said the two were more concerned about getting back to work than they were for their own wellbeing.

The other vehicle continued along Roebuck Rd with police in pursuit and was eventually road-spiked in Elgin.

Its occupants were arrested.

Footage of the roundabout incident was captured by CCTV at nearby Kevin Hollis Glass & Aluminium.