Te Taane Mapero Rota, 18, appearing in the Rotorua District Court. Photo / Zizi Sparks
Te Taane Mapero Rota, 18, appearing in the Rotorua District Court. Photo / Zizi Sparks
A teenager has been given a second chance despite leading police on a dangerous high-speed chase that ended when he crashed into two cars.
Te Taane Mapero Rota, 18, was sentenced in the Rotorua District Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to a range of charges.
The charges included burglary,unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, reckless driving and failing to stop to ascertain injury.
Judge Phillip Cooper disqualified him from driving for 12 months and sentenced him to eight months' home detention.
He said Rota had little insight into his offending and was a Mongrel Mob prospect.
However, he said there were good things on the horizon as Rota had been making positive changes while on bail and was an expectant father.
"This could be an opportunity for you to make real change in your life. You don't want your son to have the type of dad you had - a dad who was abusive, a dad who would expose you to drugs and gangs.
"If you want that for your son carry on ... If you want your son to have a better life than you had you can make that life for him by changing your life.
"I'm not going to send you to jail today because I want to give you that chance."
He said the birth of Rota's son was a chance to "break the cycle".
"I know you've had a tough life Te Taane but you can make a better life."
On March 2 this year, Rota and four others, including two men and two youths, went to a man's Sunnybrook house about 1pm, a previously-released summary of facts shows.
The summary said the group entered the man's garage and rummaged through it, gathering items to steal including motocross attire, a Stanley socket set, a high-powered waterblaster and a Honda CR250 motocross bike.
They put the items in the back seat of the man's Hilux ute and the motocross bike and the waterblaster were loaded and secured to the back of their Mazda Bounty.
The man was asleep at home when the burglary started but he woke up and called the police.
The stolen vehicle that was crashed on Fenton St injuring two people in March. Photo / File
The summary said Rota and one of the youths got into the Hilux and drove in convoy with the Mazda Bounty to the road, where they were met by a police patrol car.
The police car tried to block the vehicles from leaving but Rota veered evasively, mounting the kerb to drive off, the summary said.
Not long afterwards, another police patrol car spotted Rota driving the stolen Toyota Hilux east on Malfroy Rd.
Rota failed to stop for lights and sirens and turned right on to Fenton St on the wrong side of the road.
About 20 oncoming drivers along Fenton St had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with Rota's vehicle.
He zig-zagged in and out of the lanes to avoid the oncoming vehicles in an attempt to flee police. He was driving the wrong way up Fenton St for about 500m.
After driving along other suburban streets for a number of kilometres while police were driving behind with their lights and sirens activated, he re-entered Fenton St at speed and without checking for through-traffic.
The scene after a stolen vehicle crashed and flipped on Fenton St in March this year. Photo / File
He crashed into the side of a car heading north along Fenton St.
The male driver was knocked unconscious for a short time and suffered a cut to his forehead that later needed stitches.
The summary said the speed and force of the crash caused the struck car to travel across the northbound lane and shunt a vehicle in the southbound lane of Fenton St containing a woman and her 2-month-old baby.
Rota lost control of the ute in the crash and it flipped. Rota and the youth immediately jumped out of the vehicle and fled, failing to check on the condition of the people in the vehicles they crashed into.
They were found a short time later on Malfroy Rd.
The stolen vehicle that was crashed on Fenton St injuring two people in March. Photo / File
The stolen Hilux was valued at $6000 and was extensively damaged and the two vehicles that were struck were also extensively damaged.
The waterblaster, motocross bike, motocross attire and Stanley socket set are valued at about $8000 and were recovered by police.
The other two men and the youths have been dealt with by the court.
