Wet ending to police car chase near Tūrangi

Police escort the arrested man through the Waiotaka River after a chase around the Korohe area last week. Photo / Supplied

Kia ora koutou. You will have read in my colleague Senior Sergeant Fane Troy's report about a daytime pursuit on the outskirts of Tūrangi last week where two police cars were rammed and two detectives got wet in the line of duty.

The case involved a stolen vehicle pursuit from Taupō to Tauranga-Taupō, finishing at the Waiotaka River ford between Korohe and Tongariro Prison.

At the time the driver was spotted we were lucky because we had the Tactical Crime Units from Taupō in Tūrangi and that enabled us to get the numbers out to catch him. The pursuit went through Tauranga-Taupō into Korohe and into the forestry, and then across the river ford several times. The driver eventually abandoned the vehicle and tried to run from the officers but was quickly caught in the water by the detectives from Taupō.

An 18-year-old local male has been charged with multiple driving offences, burglary, thefts from cars and unlawful vehicle takings and some of these are in connection with a spate of burglaries and vehicle thefts I talked about in my report two weeks ago.

The arrest was a good win for us and afterwards I was able to phone one of the local kaumātua from the Korohe area to pass on our reassurances to the community that we take all care in our pursuits and are always assessing them to make sure that no one in our community gets hurt.

Sergeant Te Reipa Morunga, Turangi Police. Photo / File

In other areas, family harm offences were low last week and of the numbers we did have, no major offences were disclosed.

Vehicle break-ins and thefts from vehicles continues to be a problem but there are simple things you can do to make your vehicle and its contents less attractive to opportunistic thieves. Always remove your keys and lock your vehicle, even if you're only leaving it for a short time. Remove all valuables so that no one is tempted to break in and get them. Park your vehicle in a shed or garage if you can, or at least off the street overnight. And if you see anything or anyone suspicious, call 111 immediately.

Kia pai tō wiki, Te Reipa.