Police name teenager feared drowned in Waikato River

Police this afternoon named a young man feared drowned after plunging into the Waikato River to escape chasing police on Friday morning.

He was 17-year-old Te Wairau Waiariki who had recently been living in Auckland.

Waiariki and an accomplice, also 17, were chased by police as they sped away in a stolen car from a house burglary in Hamilton in the early hours of the Friday morning.

The pair was pursued as far as Ngaruawahia where both youths jumped out of the vehicle and plunged into the fast-flowing Waikato River.

One youth managed to swim to the other side where he was picked up by police but nothing has been seen since of Waiariki.

Police Sergeant Blair Donaldson said today that the police dive team had returned home after failing to find Waiariki.

Police would continue to use their rescue boat to continue a daily search of the river and banks.

Members of the family were also using their own boats in a effort to find him.

The arrested youth was remanded after appearing in Hamilton District Court yesterday accused of burglary and unlawfully taking a car.

- NZPA