Hamilton men arrested after leading police on ‘dangerous’ pursuit in car loaded with weapons, ammo - even road spikes didn’t stop them

Two men have been arrested after fleeing police and driving dangerously around Hamilton for more than half an hour - loaded up with a gun, ammo and knife and ramming police cars as they went - even carrying on after hitting road spikes.

Police spotted the car driving “dangerously” on Tainui Street at about 11.10pm.

Officers activated their lights and sirens, signalling for the car to stop - but the driver continued.

For 30 minutes the driver and passenger continued to try and evade police.

“Due to the manner of driving a pursuit was initiated around Forest Lake Rd,” said Hamilton City Area Commander Inspector Neil Faulkner

“The driver continued through multiple roads across Frankton, Beerescourt, and Maeroa, and road spikes were deployed on Forest Lake Road.

“The vehicle continued travelling on central southern suburbs of Hamilton, including Dinsdale, Frankton, Nawton, Forest Lake, Fairfield, Whitiora, Hamilton Central, Hamilton East, and Claudelands.

“During the pursuit, the driver rammed police vehicles, drove on the wrong side of the road and threw objects from the vehicle towards police vehicles.”

Faulkner said the car was successfully spiked on Kahikatea Drive around 11.40pm and the driver continued to try and get away.

“Road spikes were successfully deployed on River Road, and a police car blocked the vehicle” he explained.

“The driver of the vehicle fled on foot.

“A passenger was taken into custody after they presented a knife, and a Police Dog Unit was used to track the driver to an address on River Road where he was taken into custody.

“A firearm, knife and ammo were seized from the vehicle.”

Faulkner said a 19-year-old man was due to appear in Hamilton District Court on Wednesday on charges including:

• Unlawfully taking a motor vehicle
• Unlawfully carrying/ possessing a firearm
• Failing to stop, driving in a dangerous manner
• Assault
• Multiple charges of burglary unrelated to the incident.

A 23-year-old man was was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm and will appear in the Hamilton District Court at a later date.

“It is incredibly lucky none of our officers or those involved were seriously harmed during the incident,” said Faulkner.

“I’d like to acknowledge the great work by the various police teams involved in responding to this incident.

“These arrests demonstrate that we will hold offenders to account, especially when it comes to acts with the potential for causing harm to not only those who flee police but the community.”