Six in van rammed by man chasing woman at daybreak in Hastings

Agworks van driver Lisa Mulligan (front) and her mother, Tania Mulligan, both feared for their lives as their work van was repeatedly rammed in a domestic-related incident in Hastings. Photo / Paul Taylor

What was a seemingly-normal Monday morning for a group of Hastings contractors soon took a very dark turn after a woman fleeing her partner in a domestic dispute took refuge in their work van.

Agworks van driver Lisa Mulligan said she and five colleagues were parked up at the Gull service station on Omahu Rd around 6.07am yesterday, waiting for a sixth worker to arrive, when a woman appeared out of nowhere.

"This lady came running up and just jumped in screaming at us to lock the doors and take her to the police station, that her partner was going to beat her up. I just drove," she said.

Moments later a man, understood to be the distressed woman's partner, appeared at the side of the vehicle but it was already moving as Ms Mullligan put her foot to the floor.

One of the last things she remembered seeing was her colleague walking into the service station as they pulled out onto Omahu Rd.

"It was all a blur from there. Some things I only remember because someone reminds me."

Ms Mulligan said the man chased them down the road in his own vehicle, ramming their white van up to 12 times.

The pursuit came to an end at the intersection of Grays Rd and Heretaunga St West, where another occupant of the van said the man "manoeuvred" them into the roundabout before ramming them while they were stationary.

A Grays Rd resident, who did not want to be named, said she woke up to several loud bangs and headed outside in her dressing gown to see absolute carnage unfolding.

"I heard lots of people yelling and screaming. I decided at that point to run down there. When I got there a van was being rammed by the woman's ex-partner in his Honda Odyssey.

"He ended up getting out of his van and tried to climb into their van and grab her out. He was yelling and swearing and saying he was going to get her."

She began yelling she would call the police, after which the man "in a fit of rage" got back into his vehicle, rammed the van a further three times and then turned his vehicle towards her, she said.

"He freaked out and got back into his car and took off down the road down the sidewalk and aimed at me.

"I got out of the way but he almost hit an elderly man that had stopped in another vehicle on the side of the road and then he sped off down Grays Rd."

The Hastings witness described the scene left behind as "horrific".

"It was chaotic. The van was absolutely munted. Both sides of it had been hit, it was all crushed, and there was petrol leaking out.

"Part of the body had actually split and we could see the fluids running out. I told everybody to get out of the van and asked if everybody was okay."

Yesterday afternoon a Hawke's Bay District Health Board spokesperson said two females in their late 20s and 40s had been discharged from the Emergency Department.

A male in his 20s and female in her 30s were in a stable condition, they said.

Yesterday afternoon a police spokesperson confirmed the incident was domestic-related, the offender and the victim known to each other, and that they were still looking for the offender.

Cordons had been in place near the scene, including Heretaunga Stt West from Townshend St to Grays Rd, but the roads were reopened by mid-morning.

The Serious Crash Unit completed a scene investigation and further inquiries are being made, a police spokesperson said.

Ms Mulligan said it was a scary event, the man's eyeballs "popping out of his eyelids", but she did what she felt was right.

"I was just doing what I'd expect someone to do for me if I felt like my life was in danger. It's one of those things where there's no saying no; you're now in that situation and you've just got to deal with it."

She said the contracting group would be having a few days off before a new van arrived.

"Let's just call it grand theft auto Hawke's Bay-style."