Police grab handcuffed runaway in foot chase

GOTCHA: A police officer scans the ground for clues after a man ran off from the Whangarei police station. He was chased down and recaptured nearby.PHOTO/APN

A shirtless and shoeless man was captured in Whangarei this week after a police chase on foot.

The chase ended metres from the Northern Advocate building, and attracted the attention of reporting staff, one who grabbed a camera and sprinted toward the scene.

The Northern Advocate reporter ran 100m to the carpark of a nearby Carruth St business to find police, and a man on the ground yelling "I wasn't going to run, I wasn't going to run".

Nearby, a police officer (pictured to the left of the above photograph) appeared to be scanning the ground searching for clues, as his colleagues secured the scene and reported the man's capture to Whangarei police staff.

Sergeant Wayne Kelman said the man, in his mid-20s, was picked up from a Whangarei address for alleged breach of court release conditions and transported to the Whangarei Police Station.

The man managed to escape after arriving at the station, despite his hands being handcuffed behind his back, and an officer gave chase.

He was kept in custody on Thursday night and appeared before a Justice of the Peace in the Whangarei District Court yesterday.

No plea was taken when Rihari Keepa appeared on charges of breach of court order and another of escaping from lawful custody.

He was remanded in custody to reappear on Wednesday.