Police chased Daniel Nightingale and Braden Prujean as they carried out a spree of "meth-addled" offending across the Coromandel in late 2024. Photo / NZ Herald
Two men in the grips of a meth addiction led police on a high-speed pursuit after stealing cars, a caravan and threatening an elderly man at knife-point and destroying his car with a Molotov cocktail.
The “meth-addled” spree by Daniel Lance Nightingale, 36, and Braden Prujean, only came to an end thanks to the police Eagle helicopter, which tracked the pair, along with an unidentified woman, from Coromandel town to Tapu, where the stolen car was dumped and set fire to.
This week, the pair appeared in the Hamilton District Court, where Judge Philip Crayton sentenced them both to prison.
Nightingale was serving a home detention sentence when, on July 24, 2024, he stole a $20,000 Mazda ute from a commercial property in Whitianga.
The ute was fitted with GPS, and a finance company tracked it to a Kaimarama Rd property.
It had been painted with white house paint, and the wheels had been changed, but Nightingale’s fingerprint was found on a broken broom that was in the boot.
The next day, he was spotted by police walking out of Whitianga Four Square, and as officers went to approach him, he got into a black Holden.
He “aggressively” sped off, driving around 100km/h in a 50km/h zone.
On December 22, 2024, he was seen again by police who tried to apprehend him by using their vehicle to block his.
This time, Nightingale reversed at speed backwards, smashing into the front of the patrol car.
He sped off, again driving in excess of 100km/h in a 50km/h zone.
Four days later, he was spotted again, this time parked in his car under some trees on Harsant Ave, Hahei.
Nightingale sped off onto the beach before driving back to Harsant Ave. As there were pedestrians around, police opted not to pursue him.
On November 14, Nightingale and Prujean stole a Toyota Hilux from the Kaitarakihi Walking Track near Thames.
Four days later, they backed the ute up to a $20,000 caravan parked on a Matangi property and drove to Whitianga.
However, due to Nightingale’s driving, police received several phone calls, and a patrol car caught up with them at road works on the Whangapoua Hill.
He sped off, travelling at such speed that the caravan swayed back and forth, as he went through Whitianga and south to 309 Rd, which he turned onto.
Nightingale then turned onto a smaller gravel road.
Police lost sight of them briefly before the vehicle reappeared out of a side road, but without the caravan, and heading towards Coromandel town.
The car swerved into the patrol car, scraping it, as Nightingale sped past.
He drove at excessive speeds, cutting corners, and when entering Coromandel town, accelerated heavily and continued cutting into the path of oncoming traffic.
Prujean, meanwhile, sat in the front passenger seat, and an unidentified woman sat in the back.
Police eventually managed to spike the vehicle’s tyres, and the pair dumped it on Flays Rd, before fleeing on foot.
Nightingale approached a home owner, went into his kitchen, and grabbed a butcher’s knife, before waving it around, threateningly, demanding his car keys.
He fled with the keys as Prujean and the female waited outside before they all left in the victim’s Rav 4.
By this time, the police Eagle had been called, and was monitoring the Rav from the air, watching it as Nightingale drove it at speed back through Coromandel town, at times exceeding 150km/h.
He made it all the way down to Tapu and turned onto Tapu-Coroglen Rd.
It was there they dumped the Rav, and Prujean threw a Molotov cocktail inside, setting it on fire and reducing it to a burnt-out shell.
Despite “extensive efforts” by police who searched the bush, none of them were found.
In court, Judge Crayton said Nightingale’s aggravated burglary was the most serious as it involved a confrontation with a victim, in his 70s, in his home, and theft of his car.
“It must have been an extremely terrifying incident for him,” the judge remarked.
In discussions with Crown prosecutor James Lewis, Judge Crayton described Nightingale’s offending as “meth-addled”, with him now clocking up his fourth and fifth reckless driving charges, and six and seventh convictions for driving while disqualified.
Judge Crayton said one day Nightingale was “going to kill somebody”.
“It’s a miracle that he hasn’t,” he said.
“He falls absolutely squarely into all the bad side effects of methamphetamine abuse.
“Methamphetamine is one of the ugliest drugs that there could possibly be.”
Despite that, the judge said it was obvious from submissions that when he was drug-free, Nightingale could lead a law-abiding life.
“And are a completely different person to the person who lives on offending and a somewhat chaotic ... and paranoid existence.”
After taking a starting point of six years’ jail, Judge Crayton jailed Nightingale for four years and four months, and disqualified him from driving for eight years.
Prujean faced four additional charges of obtaining by deception from February and March 2024.
This offending included Prujean pocketing around $800 for items he offered for sale on Facebook but never handed over, receiving a stolen $3000 bike, and committing low-level thefts from the Warehouse and Pak’nSave in October 2024.
Judge Crayton noted Prujean had good family support, who were in court for his sentencing.
He was also someone who could be productive in the community and didn’t pass the blame for his offending.
However, a pre-sentence report detailed his “chaotic lifestyle” and depicted someone “living off their wits”.
He jailed Prujean for two years and 11 months and ordered he pay the car theft victim $1000 emotional harm reparation, along with reparation for his Facebook thefts.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.