A taxi driver successfully chased a car carrying two young robbery suspects while police were in the back seat of his cab.
But after the officers nailed their quarry, the Hamilton man quickly left the scene and the police have no idea who their good Samaritan was.
The
driver, understood to be of African descent, saw the police on foot chasing a green Subaru station wagon through Hamilton City early on Saturday morning.
The officers had received reports that two youths in the car had beaten up a 17-year-old youth for his shoes earlier in the evening.
Constable Craig Taylor of Hamilton said he and three colleagues were about to give up their chase when the taxi driver told them to get in.
"The driver yelled at us to get in, so with four burly cops and their equipment squashed in, we radioed for back up and proceeded to follow the suspects as far as Mill St."
The pursuit ended when the police confronted the two youths, but while the pair were being detained the taxi man left the scene.
"The driver [of the pursued car] nearly died of fright and just put his hands up. A quick search revealed the victim's torn shirt on the back seat," Mr Taylor said.
Hamilton police were yesterday still trying to find the taxi driver so he could be formally recognised for his assistance. But taxi companies say they don't know who he is.
One said its drivers, 90 per cent of whom were African, were "probably scared they'd done something wrong".
But a Hamilton taxi driver, who spoke to the Herald on condition he remained anonymous, said possible dodgy practices could have been the reason for the man's quick exit.
He said some drivers were operating without the necessary licences, and others were "moonlighting in Hamilton" after coming from as far away as Auckland to do business.
An 18-year-old Hamilton youth and a 16-year-old from Auckland were arrested in relation to the robbery.
