A teenager has been sentenced to community work on a reckless driving charge at the Hastings District Court. Photo / File
A teenager has been sentenced to community work on a reckless driving charge at the Hastings District Court. Photo / File
When 17-year-old Solomon Te Reoiti Wong Tung saw car keys dangling from the door of a Holden Commodore parked on a Hastings street, he couldn't help himself.
He jumped in, put the keys in the ignition, and drove off, starting a chain of events that would eventually risk the lifeof his partner and her unborn child.
Wong Tung appeared via audio-visual link in front of Judge Louis Bidois in the Hastings District Court on Tuesday.
On March 5, Wong Tung spotted the car on Willowpark Rd in Hastings South.
Two days later, on the afternoon of March 7, he was spotted by police on a joyride of the car in Flaxmere.
With his heavily pregnant 16-year-old girlfriend in the passenger seat, Wong Tung sped off at the sight of police patrol cars.
Officers activated their lights and sirens and began to pursue him.
The teen didn't stop. Instead he ramped up the danger, travelling on the wrong side of the road on least four different occasions, driving at oncoming vehicles and narrowly avoiding head-on collisions with other drivers.
His speeds clocked 80-90km on Maraekakaho Rd - a 50km zone - during heavy traffic.
He even drove through a red light at 40km/h, narrowly avoiding a collision with several cars who were driving through a green light.
Police abandoned the pursuit due to the reckless driving, fearing for the safety of members of the public.
Police later spotted Wong Tung driving the wrong way around a Flaxmere roundabout and he continued driving dangerously, despite not being pursued.
He drove at 100km/h through Flaxmere Ave - also a 50km/h zone, with oncoming traffic having no choice but to pull over to avoid him.
He was later clocked driving on State Highway 50 at 158km/h in a 100km/h zone.
The pair eventually drove onto a Taihape Rd property in a bid to avoid the police, but Wong Tung's reckless driving alerted a member of the public who notified them.
He and his girlfriend were found hiding in the bushes not far from the parked vehicle.
Wong Tung later told police that he ran a red light as he knew they would have no choice but to call off the chase.
Head of road policing for the eastern district Matt Broderick said certain factors were taken into account when abandoning a police pursuit.
"When you go through a red light or do something reckless in your driving, that would flag in our risk assessment as potentially an escalated risk," he said.
"Compare it with 3am to 3pm in the afternoon ... different answers are likely to result. We don't have to stop, but it would be a major consideration and would definitely factor in our decision-making."
Judge Louis Bidois told the teen it was "pretty cheeky" stealing a car from right under the owners nose. Photo / File.
Judge Bidois said it was "pretty cheeky to steal a car right from under the owner's nose" and heard that the teenager had been in custody for two and a half months.
"What have you learned?" he said addressing Wong Tung.
"Jail isn't a good place to be, I need to think about my actions a little bit more," the teen replied.
Judge Bidois asked if he would comply to a community based sentence to which Wong Tung said yes.
"Why?" The judge quizzed.
"Because I love my family," Wong Tung said.
"Your family have been telling you to behave for years and you haven't," Bidois replied.
The teen was sentenced to 80 hours community work and nine months supervision on charges of taking a motor vehicle and reckless driving.
He was convicted and discharged for failing to stop.
