A meth-eating fugitive with ties to Black Power has been charged after taking a man hostage at gunpoint and leading police on a high-speed chase this morning.
He will remain in custody overnight and will appear tomorrow morning at the North Shore District Court.
The 27-year-old has been charged with two counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of failing to stop, and two counts of threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm.
He is also been charged for possession of methamphetamine, using a firearm against police, kidnapping, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, and dangerous driving.
The man, who had swallowed three grams of methamphetamine, fled from Devonport on Auckland's North Shore to Waikato early this morning.
The 125km car chase began when police were alerted to a vehicle doing burnouts and donuts in a Holden ute in Takapuna.
The vehicle was stolen along with a BMW from a property in the area at gunpoint, but police say the man who had his cars stolen did not report the incident. They also did not rule out the possibility that the victim knew the offender.
In a statement police said the car was travelling in excess of 150km/h and so, in concerns for public safety, the pursuit was called off.
Spikes were laid at the Bombay Hills, but the man continued to drive south, and eventually ended up in a nearby cul-de-sac.
The armed offenders squad cordoned off the area but the man, again wielding a gun, entered one of the homes at the end of the road belonging to a couple in their 60s.
The suspect told the man to accompany him to his Ford Falcon and led the police on yet another chase, concluding again when road spikes were laid, and the man eventually gave himself up at Horotiu, just north of Hamilton.
Police said the couple in their 60s were both shaken by the incident, but the man who was taken hostage remained calm throughout and tried to get the offender to calm down.
Upon arrest, police discovered eight grams of methamphetamine on the offender, and he told them he had swallowed another three grams.
No one was injured, and an investigation is ongoing.
The offender is now receiving treatment at Middlemore Hospital and will later be interviewed by police.
Newshub.
