A man is arrested after the police chase through Marewa. Photo / Warren Buckland
A man is arrested after the police chase through Marewa. Photo / Warren Buckland
Three police cars remain off the road and at least two officers are nursing minor injuries after a Labour Day chase which ended with a stolen car crashing in the Napier suburb of Marewa.
Road policing prevention manager Senior Sergeant Dan Foley said the longer-term effect of thedamage was still to be assessed, but it was considerable and three vehicles were out of action as a result.
One officer also had a possible finger fracture but it was not clear whether the officer was off-work because of the injury.
It included the series of crashes in Williams St, Marewa, and ended with the driver abandoning the stolen Volvo in nearby Seddon Cres.
A 27-year-old man facing several charges, including aggravated assaults on officers by using a vehicle as a weapon, and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, appeared briefly in court yesterday and was remanded in custody without pleas to appear in Napier District Court on November 14.
It was, however, one of the few significant events for police on roads in the Eastern Police District during Labour weekend.
The holiday road toll of five, which took the nationwide toll this year to 300 (three less than at the same stage of 2017), did not include any fatalities in the district from East Cape to the Takapau Plains.
Foley said routine stops detected five people drink-driving on Saturday night, but the main concern was excessive speed on the highways.
