Three people injured, man arrested after allegedly driving car into group in Ponsonby

Police tape can be seen at Heke St, Ponsonby, where a man allegedly drove a car into a group, injuring three people. Photo / Isaac Davison

• A man allegedly hit three people in Ponsonby with a car, causing moderate to serious injuries.
• Residents say a brawl erupted involving about 12 people.
• Police arrested a 24-year-old man, charging him with injuring with intent to injure.
• The incident occurred in the same area as a fatal shooting last month.

A Ponsonby resident heard “a blood-curdling scream” after a man allegedly drove a car into a group of people last night.

Three people were injured and a man was arrested after the “mass disorder” event in Ponsonby around 10.20pm yesterday, police said.

Anglesea St resident Cassandra Sutherland said she and her flatmate heard people arguing on the street around 10.30pm.

“My flatmate heard a woman saying to a man ‘Don’t touch my friend like that’ or something along those lines.

“It went quiet for about five minutes then she heard a blood-curdling scream.”

They later realised the scream followed a car being driven into the group of people.

“There was a guy yelling ‘Get out of the car, get out of the car’,” she said.

Police officers arrived a few minutes later.

Michael Li, who lives on Heke St, said a group of young men and women were fighting on the street outside his home.

”Girls were screaming and falling down … it was chaos,” he said.

Li said he did not witness the collision but saw the aftermath.

Several men surrounded the car and were trying to remove the driver.

“He locked himself inside and they were punching the windows, they couldn’t get inside. They could only break the back window.

“When police arrived, they had to protect the driver from the rest of the group, he said.

Another Heke St resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said it was a group of around 12 people.

“It was a real brawl,” she said, pointing to marks on the side of a house where a person had been thrown into.

A “mob” of people was trying to pull the driver out of the car, she said. The motorist was attempting to reverse out of the narrow, steep street.

Police said the incident began in the same part of Ponsonby Rd where a fatal shooting occurred last month before moving along Anglesea St and ending on Heke St.

Inspector Jason Homan said a man got into a vehicle and allegedly hit three people with the car before crashing into a pole.

Homan said one of the people struck by the car had moderate to serious injuries.

Another two people had moderate injuries and had been discharged from hospital.

Police arrested a 24-year-old man at the scene. He has been charged with injuring with intent to injure.

The Serious Crash Unit attended the scene and conducted a scene examination. Further inquiries were ongoing, Homan said.