Footage has emerged of Waikato Police aiming handguns at an innocent man after spotting suspicious activity in their search for Morrinsville fugitive Rollie James Heke.
In a video of the incident filmed by local Bradley Mace, two officers can be seen pointing their weapons at a car they've pulled over. One shelters behind the passenger door as the other approaches cautiously.
Yelling at pedestrians to get back, the officer then gets up close to the vehicle and urges a man in the car's back seat to get out and lie face down on the road.
- Morrinsville gunman Rollie James Heke still on the run
- Morrinsville fugitive had 'military-style' weapon
He complies, and the officer can then be seen handcuffing him before lifting him up off the ground and taking him to the police car.
However it turns out he was the wrong man - with police admitting to NZME they had taken a cautionary approach "because of the situation in Morrinsville at the moment".
The two officers in the footage pulled the car over and aimed weapons at the car because they noticed the man lying down in the back seat - a position they deemed suspicious. However it has since been revealed that the man was horizontal because he suffers from back pain.
The situation in the Waikato suburb of Morrinsville is heightened thanks to gunman Rollie James Heke, who remains at large despite armed officers surrounding a house and demanding he surrender.
The 36-year-old, who is known to have links in Hamilton, Auckland and Tauranga, allegedly shot at officers with an assault rifle on the weekend, and is believed to be armed and dangerous.
Newshub.
