Teen seriously injured as boy racers converge at notorious trouble spot
Monday, 26 May 2025
A teenage boy was reportedly knocked out for about 15 minutes and suffered two broken arms after he was struck by a car at a boy racer invasion in the Waikato.
Fireworks were also shot into nearby farmland and a brawl broke out after an estimated 500 to 600 people gathered at the intersection of Great South Rd and Horotiu Bridge Rd, north of Hamilton in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The crossroads is a notorious invasion spot for boy racers. It was there that a police car was rammed by a ute - forcing officers to run for their lives - during a similar convergence in August last year.
The event has also served to further raise the ire of residents in the area, who fear it is only a matter of time before someone is killed at one of the gatherings - and not necessarily by one of the boy racers.
The police, meanwhile, have begun hunting for the driver of the car that struck and injured the teenager - and who immediately took off after the incident without bothering to give assistance.
A nearby resident, who asked not to be named, told the Waikato Times she had heard that the injured teenager had been attempting to get video footage of cars doing burnouts when one lost control and struck him.
He had been knocked unconscious and was left lying in a pool of his own blood before emergency services were called, about 12.45am.
He was transported to Waikato Hospital by St John ambulance in a serious condition.
About the same time a fight broke out between some of the crowd, with one teenager reportedly being felled by “a cheap shot” from behind, before being kicked in the head as he was on the ground.
The struck man’s girlfriend reportedly tried to intervene, which led to some in the crowd turning on her as well.
The intersection had returned to normality by daylight, but the signs of the vehicular incursion were clear to see.
The swirly scrawl of tyre treads was all over the tarseal, and cars had also made a mess of a nearby vacant section in the Northgate Business Park.
“It’s happened before, so we know what to expect,” the nearby resident said.
“We have got some sympathy for the police, because you need to have many, many police in order to round them up.
“There were people throwing bottles around, firing fireworks into the fields, and a brawl in the corner. We could hear the sound of a female being hurt, which was pretty distressing.
“They only dispersed when they did because of the accident. It could easily have gone on for a lot longer.”
She had considered heading out to get video footage of what was happening, however the numbers were too intimidating, she said.
“I don’t want to be out there in my dressing gown with about 400 kids not wanting me to be there.”
Graffiti had appeared on the wall of a nearby industrial building during the gathering.
“I don’t have any problem with kids having fun, but there has to be something better for them than this.”
The ringleaders of the invasion appeared to be a group who had pulled up in multi-coloured Ford Falcons, and were equipped with professional tyre-changing equipment so they could make a speedy replacement as one popped mid-burnout.
“It’s just disgusting,” said another nearby resident, who also asked not to be named.
“We have not experienced as much of it lately. It used to be every weekend. But last night it was really bad. They were all lined up and down Great South Rd.
“My husband rang the police about 11.45pm, when they first started to gather. By 12.30am there was hundreds and hundreds of [boy racers].”
The woman’s husband said he was dismayed by the slow police response, but assumed they had their hands full with domestic assaults and other matters.“
No emergency services arrived until close to 1am.
“You can’t really blame the police. There’s a real shortage of coppers these days … You could always try and deal with it yourself with the shotgun. That’s probably not a good idea though.”
While there were traffic monitoring cameras installed at the intersection, more were needed, the couple said.
“They need to ping the little sods,” the woman said. “You can’t call people like that car enthusiasts. Real car enthusiasts don’t treat their cars like that.”
Added her husband: “That mess is going to be out there on the road for the next six months. It takes ages to disappear.
“I don’t mind if it is only themselves they are injuring, but they are probably preventing the ambulance staff from getting to someone having a cardiac arrest or something, who deserves their help.”
A police spokeswoman said they were initially called to Airport Rd at 11pm, where about 300 cars were said to be congregating, with around 20 cars performing skids on the road.
The group dispersed when police arrived.
Over the next hour, they received reports of other large groups at other locations around Hamilton and outlying areas, including a group that blocked the intersection of State Highway 39 and Meadway Rd, preventing access by police and other emergency services.
This was one of two such incidents overnight - the other was a car fire on Rutherford Rd about 3am.
Police continued to receive reports about anti social road users causing disruption throughout the early hours.
While no actual arrests were made the police would locate and review CCTV footage of the congregations and would take action against anyone who could be identified.
“The behaviour we saw overnight is completely unacceptable,” Detective Inspector Matt Cranshaw said.
“We are very fortunate that we did not see anyone else suffering serious injuries - or worse - given the total disregard for safety shown by those involved.”
“Follow-up inquiries will be made and we will be holding to account those who we identify as committing offences and those involved in organising these gatherings.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact Police via 105 and reference Operation Shadow.
The overnight gathering is arguably the first large scale such event in the Waikato since the Government introduced tougher penalties for “anti-social” driving behaviour earlier this month.
They include a new presumptive sentence of vehicle destruction or forfeiture, which will be applied to those who flee police, boy racers, intimidating convoys, and owners who fail to identify offending drivers.