Two people are seriously injured after a late night crash in New Windsor. Video / Hayden Woodward
An Auckland man who was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint and then forced to withdraw cash from an ATM says the incident has left him traumatised and that it may take years to recover.
The 36-year-old man, who cannot be identified, nursed a broken arm, suffered constant headaches and experienced cripplinganxiety after he was involved in the harrowing ordeal in late September.
He told the Herald he had just dropped friends off at their house that night and returned to his New Windsor home when he was confronted by a man pointing an airgun at his head at the front of his property.
“I came home after dropping my friends off, I parked my car on the side of the road because I was getting some work done on my driveway at that time.
“I did not see the man when I parked the car. When I came out, he came up to me with a gun.
“I told him that because I thought if he would take me from outside nobody would know what happened to me.”
He suggested he would quickly go into the house, grab the cards and return - but the gunman insisted he would follow him into the house.
“He asked me who else was in the house. I told him just my flatmates,” the victim told the Herald.
“When I opened the door to my house, my flatmates were sitting in the lounge watching TV. One of them got up and came towards the gunman thinking it was a prank.
“The man kicked him, shoved him and he fell on the coffee table. He told us if anyone calls the police he would kill us...we were all scared and in panic.” The man got his bank cards and was escorted back to his car by his assailant.
“He took me in my car and then said, ‘you sit and I’ll drive’. He put his weapon beside him”.
He asked the gunman why he had chosen him. “He just told me it was my bad day.”
The 36-year-old man suffered a broken arm and is still experiencing headaches and crippling anxiety. Photo / Supplied
The man took the gunman to an ATM on Stoddard Rd.
“I got out of the car and took $200 cash from two of my cards, and handed him $400 cash. I told him, ‘take the money and now you can go’. But he said to take me back the house.”
By that time his flatmates had already called the police, who were searching for the pair.
“Police started chasing us and the man panicked. He asked me, ‘did you call the police?’ “I told him, ' I was with you all night, how can I call police [when] you have my phone?’
“He just accelerated way too fast...we ended up T-bone crashing into another car which was coming from Maioro St towards Stoddard Rd.”
The victim told the Herald he remembered seeing the car was about to crash. “I just closed my eyes...
“I don’t know what happened when we crashed, it just felt like a roller-coaster. When I opened my eyes, my throat was burning, I could see my hand hanging and not responding so I knew it had been broken.
“I heard him [the gunman] running, and then immediately police came; they took me out and transported me to the hospital. "
He spent three days in hospital, undergoing surgery and receiving trauma screening.
Since the incident, he has not been able to go outside alone.
“It is very scary. It has done damage to my whole body, I can’t do anything. Even if I walk for 15 minutes I get a lot of headaches, I feel dizzy and tired, and my heartbeat rises very high,” he said.
“The neuro-physiotherapist told me my body is in fight or flight mode and it may take months or even years to get back to normal.”
He had lived on the same street for five years and it was a relatively safe neighbourhood.
“But this incident has made me re-think everything, we are not safe anywhere. Before, I used to go anywhere at anytime but now I think I can’t.”
