Three teens killed in stolen car after fleeing police in Christchurch
Monday, 14 January 2019
Two young brothers and their friend are dead after the stolen car they were in hit police spikes at speed, crashed and exploded in a 'huge ball of fire'.
Two officers who laid the spikes tried to save the boys, suffering smoke inhalation in the process, but it was too late.
'Sadly this was not possible due to the intense heat and fire,' Canterbury district commander Superintendent John Price said.
The stolen Mazda Familia was first seen speeding in central Christchurch at 11.13pm on Sunday, reaching speeds in excess of 130kmh and running red lights on Moorhouse Ave.
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Stuff understands the boys are 16-year-old Glen Mcallister, who was believed to be driving the car, and 13-year-olds Craig Mcallister and Brooklyn Taylor.
Police started chasing the car, but abandoned the pursuit after just over a minute because of the way it was being driven, Price said.
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* Deadly crash driver's image suppressed for safety reasons
* Number of people being killed during police chases on rise**
Meanwhile, officers laid spikes a few kilometres away on Blenheim Rd to try to stop the car.
The car hit the spikes, lost control and crashed into a tree, rupturing the fuel tank and exploding in flames. The road was wet at the time of the crash, leaving no skid marks.
'There has been a ball of fire, we know this from CCTV footage,' Price said.
Both officers went directly to the car and 'did their very best' to get the teens out, but were unable to.
The officers, who were at home recuperating from smoke inhalation, were 'absolutely devastated' by the deaths.
Police were in contact with their families, he said.
'NEVER SEEN SOMEONE GOING SO FAST'
Mark Scott was sitting at the lights on the corner of Moorhouse Ave and Montreal St when a car shot past him.
'It shook the hell out of my car, worse than a large truck going past you on an open road,' he said.
Two police cars in pursuit followed, as the car went through red lights.
Police appeared to abandon the chase near the next set of lights, at the Moorhouse Ave and Antigua St intersection, Scott said.
'I've never seen someone going so fast down Moorhouse let alone through red lights like that.'
A Blenheim Rd resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, described the car fire as an 'inferno'. The most 'haunting' thing was the sound of the car horn, which started almost immediately after the crash.
'It didn't go off. It just kept going,' he said.
The man saw a police car waiting outside Carpet Mill, on Blenheim Rd, prior to the crash. He thought the spikes were put down there, about 60 metres away from the tree the car hit.
The resident said he saw police officers running down the street after the car hit the spikes. He ran from his property, and said he was about halfway across the street when he heard an explosion.
'I could feel the heat from the other side of the road,' he said, adding there were a number of 'scary' explosions that followed. It was too hot for the police to do anything, he said.
'There was nothing they could do.
'I just feel sorry for the parents.'
Blenheim Rd resident Ruth Maxwell said police seemed to be 'astonished' by the crash.
'When I came out, the police were standing there and I don't think they realised what to do,' she said.
'They were as astonished by what happened as anyone else.'
Maxwell was at home when she heard 'a loud whoosh'.
'We came out, and it was all alight. We just missed the crash by literally seconds,' she said.
'You couldn't really see much except for a huge ball of fire.'
Three police cars were at the scene when the crash happened. Another 10 police cars arrived following the crash, Maxwell said.
CAR TYRES EXPLODE IN FIRE
Another resident, Rachel Cullen, said she could smell the fire from her home, across the road from the scene.
She was in her bedroom when she heard police cars 'screaming out', she said.
She heard a 'huge crash' and thought the car had gone through a shop window.
When she looked outside she saw the car on fire.
'A tyre exploded because of the heat, then the second tyre went and the third tyre went. It was just blazing,' she said.
Another resident saw a tent at the scene after the incident.
Price said the outcome was the last thing police wanted to see.
'We now have families who have lost their loved ones and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.'
SPIKES DEFLATE, NOT BURST, TYRES
Police Association president Chris Cahill said the 'tragic consequences' of laying the road spikes could not have been anticipated.
He said spikes caused tyres to deflate and the car to stop further down the road, rather than the tyres blowing out.
'What's clear is the pursuit had been called off several minutes beforehand and the car continued to travel at speed after that, the dangers the driver presented continued, and was still a risk to members of the public and themselves.
'It wasn't being caused by police officers pursuing, but clearly by those people choosing to drive at those dangerous speeds.
'The decision to deploy spikes, on the face of it, is done to try and reduce the risk by stopping that vehicle and so the risk to the members of the public is reduced.
'Unfortunately it's had tragic consequences, but consequences that couldn't really have been foreseen.'
PURSUIT REVIEW WEEKS AWAY
The number of people killed during police pursuits increased every year between 2014 and 2017.
Police and the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) are reviewing their fleeing driver policy on a nationwide level.
The findings were initially expected to be released late last year, but 'because of the complexity of the issues and the need for careful analysis', the report is now expected to be finalised in February.
Cahill said he was interested to see the outcome of the review.
'This incident highlights no one incident is the same, each incident had their own sets of circumstances. If police did nothing that vehicle was going to continue to travel at speed and could have had serious impacts for innocent members of the public.'
Human rights lawyer Deborah Manning said New Zealand was out of step with international practise around police pursuits.
'We should not be pursuing, or chasing, drivers for speeding. It puts people into flight mode and young people cannot make good decisions under that pressure.
'Speeding does not justify losing three young lives.'
RASH OF FATAL PURSUIT CRASHES
In November, Alexia Chrissy-Marie Noble-Hazelwood, 18, died and three others, including her twin brother, were injured in a crash following a police pursuit. The car went through a fence, hit a tree and then came to a stop in a building at the entrance to Christchurch East School on Gloucester St in Christchurch about 11.15pm. The 19-year-old suspected driver, Darrin Ray Stewart, allegedly fled the scene. He has been charged with manslaughter.
On December 5, driver Dennis Tunnicliffe, 25, and his pregnant passenger Renee Percy, 35, died when the car, travelling at more than twice the speed limit, smashed into a power pole at the corner of Breezes Rd and Cuthberts Rd in Aranui about 2.30am. One passenger survived.
Price said such pursuits were extremely testing for police.
'They are fast-moving, unpredictable and high pressure situations that require quick judgements.
'Ultimately, police are here to protect our community. Our staff must strike a balance between the responsibility to protect life and the duty to enforce the law.'
A police investigation into the latest incident was under way, Price said.
The IPCA would also investigate, which was standard practice, he said.