Northland: High-speed chase on rims ends in jail for disqualified driver Elaine Rudolph

Elaine Rudolph was jailed in the Whangārei District Court for her 15th driving while disqualified charge.

Caught in a high-speed police chase that shredded her front tyres down to the rims, a woman facing her 15th driving while disqualified charge offered the judge a simple explanation for her actions.

“I was just trying to get to my mum,” Elaine Rudolph said moments before being sentenced to 20 months behind bars.

Appearing in the Whangārei District Court on Monday, the court heard about the lengthy pursuit that began in the early morning hours of January 5.

At 12.47am, police attempted to stop the 37-year-old woman who was driving north from the Brynderwyn Hills.

Rudolph, who was in a stolen car, failed to stop and instead sped off reaching speeds of 120km/h while travelling through a 100km/h zone.

Between Waipu and Portland, she drove over two police devices designed to stop vehicles fleeing police.

Neither device stopped Rudolph and as she neared the Portland turnoff, she continued at speeds of 90km/h in a 50km/h roadworks zone.

By this point, the two front tyres were disintegrated and on rims as Rudolph swerved across the road, crashing through 50m of road barriers.

And still she continued.

Rudolph sped through Whangārei, on rims, and eventually stopped at an address on the other side of town in Tikipunga, where she got out of the car and police found her in the nearby primary school.

The chase wasn’t over though.

When police advised her she was under arrest, she ran and was located a short time later on the roof of a house one street away.

When searched, police located a methamphetamine pipe and although Rudolph said in court she did an alcohol test, she refused to undergo a drug impairment test.

In total she had travelled 73km to escape police, with 15km being on bare rims.

She was charged with multiple driving charges, possession of methamphetamine utensils and escaping police custody.

The roadworks south of Whangārei where Elaine Rudolph drove through 50m of barriers. Photo / NZME

Rudolph’s lawyer Jarred Scott said his client was picked up hitch-hiking and did not know the car was stolen until police told her.

Police prosecutor Valeria Benjamin submitted it was Rudolph’s 15th driving while disqualified charge and she had a long history of non-compliance with court orders.

“Twelve breaches of bail, nine breaches of electronically monitored bail, 14 failure to answer to court, five breaches of community work and three breaches of standard release conditions.

“A step up is needed,” Benjamin said.

Judge Peter Davey pointed out she also had 63 criminal convictions.

“It’s difficult to say what the main offence is.

“It’s one thing to panic, but to drive all the way from Brynderwyns to Tikipunga on wheels that have been spiked is just, in my view, completely dangerous and very serious offending,” Judge Davey said before Rudolph commented from the audiovisual link from a women’s prison.

“I was just trying to get to my mum,” she said.

Judge Davey sentenced Rudolph to 20 months’ imprisonment, which Rudolph sought clarification on.

“So no bail your honour?” Rudolph asked.

“No, you’re sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment.”

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.