Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Fleeing driver crashes through Richmond School, Napier, grounds

Hawkes Bay Today
19 Feb, 2020 11:17 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Richmond School was the scene of a dramatic police pursuit. Photo / Google

Richmond School was the scene of a dramatic police pursuit. Photo / Google

Richmond School principal Shane Foster heard the sirens flying around Maraenui, getting closer and closer to his office, louder and louder.

He wondered what they were for.

Then the fleeing car that police were chasing today came careening through the school's wooden fence.

It carried on, despite the damage, driving across school grounds as kids who had just returned from morning tea break stared in shock. The driver of the car kept going.

Police say the vehicle took a path that led it out a side gate, where it rammed and damaged a police car near the exit.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hawke's Bay Today understands the driver fled on foot, before being arrested nearby.

Foster said his staff rang the bell immediately, putting the school into voluntary lockdown as a precaution.

He then rang police to tell them what he'd done and that the children were safe in their classrooms.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It was really lucky that our morning tea had finished, otherwise things could have been different," Foster said.

"It's just stupid that someone thought it was a good idea to use school grounds as a way to try to escape police."

A police spokeswoman said two people were now in custody.

The chase began about 11.40am when a suspicious vehicle was seen in the Maraenui area and failed to stop for police when signalled.

Two schools, Richmond and Bette Christie Kindergarten, went into a voluntary lockdown as a precautionary measure but stood it down after an hour.

Police said searches on foot around the Maraenui suburb later located the alleged offender nearby. They were taken into custody without further incident.

The person is expected to face various charges and is due to appear in court tomorrow. Another person was arrested for obstruction.

"Police would like to thank the schools and the public for their patience while police dealt with this unfolding incident."

In December, Flaxmere Primary School placed itself in lockdown after a man came on to the school grounds, and was shot by police.

Derek Timu, who was known to a school staff member, survived the shooting and has pleaded guilty to several charges including unlawfully carrying an imitation firearm.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He will be sentenced next month.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Heat alerts for 15 centres amid scorching temps, severe gales pose 'extreme' fire danger

10 Jan 12:26 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Three injured after tractor and car collide in Hawke's Bay

09 Jan 11:07 PM
Premium
Opinion

John Jenkins: Hastings-trained pair show that size doesn’t always matter

09 Jan 05:00 PM

Sponsored

The Bay’s secret advantage

07 Dec 09:54 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Heat alerts for 15 centres amid scorching temps, severe gales pose 'extreme' fire danger
Hawkes Bay Today

Heat alerts for 15 centres amid scorching temps, severe gales pose 'extreme' fire danger

The MetService-issued heat alerts include several holiday hot spots.

10 Jan 12:26 AM
Three injured after tractor and car collide in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Three injured after tractor and car collide in Hawke's Bay

09 Jan 11:07 PM
Premium
Premium
John Jenkins: Hastings-trained pair show that size doesn’t always matter
Opinion

John Jenkins: Hastings-trained pair show that size doesn’t always matter

09 Jan 05:00 PM


The Bay’s secret advantage
Sponsored

The Bay’s secret advantage

07 Dec 09:54 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP