Alleged van-rammer Raquada-Charles Edwards pleads not guilty

Havelock North man Raquada-Charles Edwards featured on crime show Police Ten 7 in early March. Photo/File.

A man accused of an early morning van-ramming rampage in Hastings last month has denied the offending.

Raquada-Charles Edwards, 24, appeared in the Hastings District Court this morning on a raft of charges including two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and three of operating a motor vehicle recklessly causing injury.

The Havelock North man is alleged to have chased his partner from the Gull service station on Omahu Rd and rammed the van she was hiding in a dozen times before fleeing the scene on February 5.

Edwards also faces charges of injuring with intent to injure, threatening to kill, breaching a protection order, male assaults female and assault with a weapon.

Police arrested him on March 8 where he was remanded in custody to reappear today.

This morning defence lawyer Cliff Church, acting as agenct for Eric Forster, entered not guilty pleas and elected a jury trial on all charges.

A plea for one remaining charge of a breach of supervision will be entered at another AVL court appearance next week.

Edwards featured on Police Ten 7 in early March. It was previously believed he might have left the region and that he was being helped to continue avoiding arrest.

The van-ramming incident made headlines in February where it was reported to have started at the Omahu Rd service station at about 6am.

Contractors were waiting in their van when a woman suddenly asked them to take her to the police station as her partner was going to beat her up.

Moments later, a man appeared but the van drove away with the woman.

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

A white contractor van was left a crumpled mess after a man rammed it up to 12 times in Hastings last month. Photo/File.

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

The man was understood to have then tried to climb into the van and grab the woman.

After a witness threatened to call the police, the man rammed the van three more times, then drove off after apparently aiming for the witness.

Four people were taken to Hawke's Bay Hospital, with two discharged later that day.

This morning, Edwards was remanded in custody to appear for a case-review hearing in the Napier District Court on May 25.