Northland Police Shooters Linked to Car Hijacking and Arson in Crime Riot

Last night, two men were still on the run after a terrible crime spree that included shooting a police officer at point-blank range, a kidnapping, a burning car and possibly also a series of store raids.

The officer escaped injuries, but the patrol’s windshield was spattered with gunshots from the shotgun blast on Puketona Rd, on State Highway 10 south of Kerikeri, shortly after 4 a.m. yesterday.

The incidents prompted a major police operation and a search by members of the Armed Criminal Squad at a number of properties on Matauri Bay Rd related to the kidnapping.

During the same night, raids were carried out on a Four Square in Paihia and a dairy in Moerewa. It is not yet known whether those raids were related to the other crimes.

The drama started at 4.13am when a car pulled up in front of a police vehicle and stopped in the middle of Puketona Rd, between Puketona Junction and the quarry.

Before the police officer had a chance to get out of the patrol, two men got out of their car and pointed their guns at the officer.

The officer immediately withdrew, but a shot was fired at the vehicle, spraying the windshield with shotgun pellets.

The officer, who was unhurt, quickly left the scene and called for reinforcements.

A Puketona Rd resident who lives near the scene said she was awake when she heard what sounded like a single gunshot sometime after 3 a.m.

The woman, who did not want to be named, thought it might have been a thief who was “trying” with her cattle.

She decided to wake her husband up and ask him to take a look if he heard a second shot.

When they got up around 6.30am, they noticed that the normally traveled road was strangely quiet. Then his farm worker called to say he couldn’t communicate, and a colleague from the quarry called to ask what was going on.

When her husband walked down the road to check his stock, he saw two policemen with rifles near the end of his path.

“It looked like they were looking for something on the road,” he said.

They believed that the criminals’ car had turned off a driveway to a nearby farm that led to a barn. The barn, however, was intact.

Puketona Rd, the main link between Paihia and SH10, was closed until 8 am. More than 100 road and quarry workers had to wait in a motel parking lot on SH10 for the road to reopen.

A short time later, police cars were seen traveling north at high speed through Waipapa.

They were responding to a kidnapping that had occurred early in the morning, but it was not reported until 8 a.m. when the victim managed to reach a farm on Matauri Bay Rd for help.

The connection between the shooting and the kidnapping was not yet clear at the time of yesterday’s edit, but the same men are believed to have been involved.

In both incidents, the perpetrators were described as masked, solidly built and driving a silver or gray sedan.

A man is believed to have been abducted from the Waipapa area and later dumped near a quarry in Matauri Bay.

Northland Police Detective Inspector Dene Begbie said the man was fortunately not seriously injured and was helping police reconstruct the morning’s events.

Earlier, around 4.50 am, police located what Begbie described as a “vehicle of interest for the investigation” when it was set ablaze on Puketotara Rd, near Ōkaihau.

The car was a gray 2010 Nissan Skyline.

Later in the morning, cars full of armed police officers and at least two units of dogs gathered at the intersection of Matauri Bay Rd and Hikurua Rd.

Once members of the specialized armed criminal squad arrived from Whangārei around 11.20 a.m. M., They headed to a series of nearby driveways and access roads.

They did not find the men they were looking for, but remained at the scene for several hours to gather evidence and search for missing property.

Begbie said police continued to support the attacked officer in the unprovoked shooting.

“They are understandably shocked by the incident and I commend the actions this officer took to ensure his own safety. This type of incident is totally unacceptable and concerns both the police and our community, ” he said.

“I would like to assure the Far North community that we are taking this matter seriously and that we have a determined team of investigators working to hold those involved accountable.”

The officer is understood to be a woman, although the police did not officially confirm this. She has been temporarily withdrawn from service.

■ Anyone with information on any of the incidents, or who has seen a Nissan Skyline with the MWD839 registration, is urged to contact Kerikeri Police at 105. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111. Do not go near men.