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NZ POLICE / Supplied
A lone policewoman was shot in the back in late October after a man was abducted in what police believe were related incidents.
Police renewed an appeal for information after a man was kidnapped and police were shot at in the far north last month.
The two separate incidents are believed to be related.
On Thursday night’s episode of Police Ten 7, Detective Sergeant Major Mark Dalzell revealed new details about the case, including that they had a suspect on CCTV, and urged the public to assist in the investigation.
On October 26, around 11 p.m., a man was in his car, parked on State Highway 10 near Waipapa for the night. A car pulled up behind him, and two of the four occupants pulled the man out of their car face down, with a gun pointed at his head.
They forced him into his own car, a 2010 Nissan Skyline, registration number MWD839, and took him to an ATM in Kerikeri, where he was forced to give out his PIN numbers. The men emptied his bank account.
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The men took the victim back to the place where they found him, where they blindfolded him, tied him up and forced him to put on his boot.
The man believed they went to a house, where he heard people talking and the barking of a dog.
He was then taken to a quarry on Matauri Bay Road, where he heard the kidnappers say they wanted to burn the car.
“Absolutely terrified,” the man managed to untie his hands, explode his boot, and “ran for his life,” as he heard gunshots behind him, Dalzell said.
The man hid in a bush overnight, waited until dawn, and sought shelter around 8 a.m. the next day.
DENISE PIPER / Things
An operation near Matauri Bay, north of Kerikeri, is carried out by the police armed criminal brigade after the incident.
He was unable to get a good look at the attackers, who were wearing dark clothing and whose faces were disguised.
His car was found burned on Puketotara Road around 5 a.m., along with a white 2018 Toyota Corolla, also burned, that had been stolen a year earlier in Opononi.
Meanwhile, around 4:10 a.m. on October 27, a car pulled up in front of a police vehicle and pulled up in the middle of the road on State Highway 11, near the Puketona junction with SH10.
Before the officer could get out of her car, two armed men got out of the parked vehicle.
He tried to back up at high speed, while a shot was fired at the car that damaged the windshield.
The officer was shocked, but unharmed.
Dalzell said police believe the two incidents may be related.
Denise Piper / Things
Detective Inspector Dene Begbie, Northland District Crime Manager, explains why police believe an officer who was shot and a kidnapping in Northland may be related.
“I’m absolutely convinced that someone will know something,” he said, and asked the public to come forward if they had any information on any of the incidents.
He also said there was “every chance” that the men involved had traveled to Northland for Labor Weekend.
Dalzell said the man who was abducted had been “incredibly affected” by what happened to him, and police were determined to identify and “hold those responsible to account for their actions.”
He said the police also want to find those who shot the officer.
“It is very fortunate that she was not seriously injured or worse.”
Individuals with information were urged to contact 0800 107 INFO or to contact a case officer anonymously, click here.
