Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

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

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

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

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

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 / Rotorua Daily Post

Taupō District Court: Man escapes from courthouse and swims in lake in process

Maryana Garcia
By Maryana Garcia
Multimedia Journalist·Waikato Herald·
4 Feb, 2025 02:54 AM2 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
A man was seen escaping from the paddy wagon outside Taupō District Court this morning.

A man was seen escaping from the paddy wagon outside Taupō District Court this morning.

One man has been arrested after escaping custody at Taupō District Court this morning.

The man swam through part of Lake Taupō trying to evade police.

According to a police statement, the man was arrested after fleeing a locked courtyard at about 11am.

“However, [he] was soon arrested after swimming a small portion of the lake and attempting to evade police through a nearby property,” police said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“He received medical attention for minor injuries sustained from climbing a fence.”

One woman, who spoke to the Herald on the condition of anonymity, said she witnessed the escape.

“We saw two guys sprint from the [direction of the] paddy van. They kept looking back to see if someone was chasing them.”

The woman said it was a “good 10 to 15 seconds” before the men were pursued.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“They were long gone,” she said.

A police spokesperson later confirmed there was only one escapee.

The woman said escapes from the courthouse were “getting out of hand”.

“I think people should be more aware. Who knows what they’re in there for? And there’s a lot of houses around the area.”

She said there should be more officers around to manage the inmates.

“A couple of weeks ago one man escaped and was on the run for 48 hours.”

The woman was referring to the escape of Samir Derek Belhajjam, who fled a police transport vehicle at Taupō District Court in January.

Belhajjam was being transported back to prison after a court appearance when he evaded his police escort.

He turned himself in after 48 hours.

Maryana Garcia is a Hamilton-based reporter covering breaking news in Waikato. She previously wrote for the Rotorua Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

Flat battery thwarts supermarket shoplifter's escape

Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua woman honours late uncle, cousin with Run the Forest tribute

Rotorua Daily Post

'Changed a generation': Why three Rotorua principals have been celebrated


Sponsored

Kiss cams and passion cohorts: how brands get famous in culture

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Flat battery thwarts supermarket shoplifter's escape
Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

Flat battery thwarts supermarket shoplifter's escape

Police arrested him in the carpark – and found he had more than stolen groceries.

02 Aug 05:00 PM
Rotorua woman honours late uncle, cousin with Run the Forest tribute
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua woman honours late uncle, cousin with Run the Forest tribute

02 Aug 02:17 AM
'Changed a generation': Why three Rotorua principals have been celebrated
Rotorua Daily Post

'Changed a generation': Why three Rotorua principals have been celebrated

01 Aug 06:04 PM


Kiss cams and passion cohorts: how brands get famous in culture
Sponsored

Kiss cams and passion cohorts: how brands get famous in culture

01 Aug 12:26 AM
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
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP