Flash, bang, bang ends hostage drama

The man was arrested after a three-hour standoff in which a woman was held at gunpoint. Picture / Dean Purcell

A flash of bright light and the sound of rapid gunfire ended a three-hour hostage drama yesterday.

A distraction device allowed armed police with a dog to storm a car and overwhelm an armed man who had held a woman at gunpoint.

The standoff, on State Highway 16 near Kumeu, began at midday when a man driving a car with stolen plates failed to stop at a police traffic checkpoint in West Auckland.

Police pursued the car at low speeds along Henderson streets and State Highway 16 for about 10km.

Huapai resident Melissa Clinch was taking her 2-year-old daughter to preschool and said the man driving the car had no regard for other motorists.

"I was a few kilometres away from Westgate [shopping centre] when from out of nowhere - it was really quick - this guy came in between me and a truck.

"It was just lucky that I was verging on the edge of the lane. If I had had my hand or arm out the window it would have been cut off."

Shortly after that the vehicle, pursued by patrol cars, stopped on the side of the highway not far from Kumeu.

It is understood the driver had run out of petrol and, as police approached, he pulled out a loaded revolver, pointing it at them and at the woman in the front seat of his car.

Muriwai resident Diana Balham, who was travelling north towards Kumeu, could see police surrounding the car and a man moving inside it.

"They were all crouched down and were mostly motioning with their hands for him to put his hands on his head, but he didn't."

Other police arrived soon after and crouched behind the doors with their guns drawn. One officer got out of his car so quickly he was halfway out the door before realising he had forgotten to put the handbrake on.

Motorists were then directed away from the scene as a 1.5km stretch of highway was cordoned off.

Inside the cordons two men were coming out of a driveway when they saw the car surrounded by police. One said he was about 10m away and could see the man sitting in the driver's seat and the woman in the passenger's seat.

"They were telling him to put his hands up and out the window but he wouldn't and he started screaming and saying he wanted drinks. We didn't see a child but we heard him yell out that he's got a kid, a baby."

Acting Waitakere area commander Inspector Scott Webb said police tried to negotiate with the man but he was upset and appeared to be affected by some sort of substance.

"He just got more and more agitated as the negotiations went on," said Mr Webb. "Our main concerns were for what we believed was a child in the car and the woman."

After three hours of unsuccessful negotiations police used the distraction device, which sounds like gunfire but doesn't involve live rounds.

Mr Webb said the man was still highly agitated as the armed offenders squad rushed to the car. A police dog bit him on the legs, for which he needed hospital treatment.

The woman, shocked but not hurt, was taken away. Police were last night establishing her role in the drama. There was no child in the car.

The man is expected to face charges this morning.