Police chase 'justified and well co-ordinated'

A police chase that covered 70km has been described as 'justified and well co-ordinated' by an Independent Police Conduct Authority report. Photo/ File

A police chase that covered 70km has been described as 'justified and well coordinated' by an Independent Police Conduct Authority report into a fleeing driver on March 7 last year.

Police in Napier engaged with a ute that was seen travelling slowly in the vicinity of an address where suspicious activity had been reported.

A Constable signalled for the vehicle to stop by flashing the patrol car's red and blue lights but the driver accelerated away.

Eastern Police said they accept the findings of the IPCA report.
"Our trained teams constantly assessed the risk factors during this 86 minute event," said Eastern District Commander, Superintendent Sandra Enables.

"While fleeing driver incidents are inherently risky, Police policy states that public and staff safety takes priority over the immediate apprehension of an offender.
"The onus is on the fleeing driver to stop."

Police did acknowledge a point made in the report that when the offending ute struck a stationary car, a unit following the offender should have notified other Police straight away.

Instead, the matter was reported later, which caused avoidable stress for the victim.
The offending vehicle was eventually stopped and the driver was arrested following the deployment of road spikes and by Police cars boxing in the ute.

The driver later pleaded guilty to a range of charges, including reckless driving and possession of utensils for methamphetamine.

He was sentenced to three months in prison and disqualified from driving for six months.