A woman whose car was stolen during a dramatic early morning fleeing driver incident in Auckland says she feels "uncomfortable" and "violated" by the ordeal.
It all started just before 5am in Epsom, where a person unsuccessfully tried to steal a vehicle by allegedly presenting a gun at a driver on Gillies Avenue.
After that failed attempt, the alleged offender got into another stolen vehicle and left the area, police said. The police helicopter was in the area and found the vehicle and monitored it travelling to an address on Cedar Heights Avenue in Massey.
"At the property, the offender has attempted to evade the Eagle crew observing from above but instead was allegedly seen getting into another vehicle," police said.
"A pursuit was engaged, and he has allegedly driven this vehicle at speed, entering the motorway network on Royal Road."
Police said spikes were successfully deployed on the on-ramp but the alleged offender continued to travel at speed and exited the motorway at Lincoln Rd.
"At this point, he has allegedly driven at two members of the public and attempted to steal their vehicles," police said.
Superintendent Naila Hassan said police arrived at the same time and a patrol vehicle collided with the offender. He was taken to Auckland Hospital with serious injuries and an investigation is underway into what occurred.
One woman who is a resident of Cedar Heights Avenue, who has asked to remain anonymous, had her Toyota stolen from her driveway during the ordeal and it was later found crashed on Lincoln Rd.
She told Newshub that early in the morning, she heard the police helicopter and sirens going off. She got up to check on her children, and in their room is also the TV monitor showing their home's CCTV footage. She said she looked at it and saw her car wasn't there, but she was half asleep so didn't think about going out and checking. She then went back to bed.
At 6am, her partner got up and told her that her car was gone. They called the police and went over CCTV footage, where they saw a man on their property.
"[I feel] uncomfortable, violated. I felt violated that this person had walked into the house with no care at all, with three kids in there sleeping, me and my partner in there sleeping, walked into our room, turned our light on, saw us asleep, didn't care. Doesn't make you feel good," the woman told Newshub.
"When we went through the camera footage, it shows him coming through the gate, because we had closed the gate before we went to bed. So he opened the gate, came through the door, and then in the footage you can see where my bedroom window is, and the light turns on, then it turns off, and he walks out of the house and takes the car."
Police wouldn't confirm if the man in the CCTV footage is the alleged fleeing driver, but the woman said she has handed the video over to officers.
Not having a car impacts them "a lot", the woman said.
"It impacts us very heavily. It's our way to get around," she said.
"Not only that, it had our bank cards in there, it had our money in there. It was more than just a vehicle, it's also got all our stuff in it."
Supt Hassan said earlier there will be several investigations into Monday morning's incident, including an investigation into the man's actions.
"Police anticipate charges will be laid against the 37-year-old man, who is under Police guard in hospital," she said.
"As standard procedure in these instances, we have also notified the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
"I would like to acknowledge the disruption this will bring to motorists and their cooperation, with road closures in place around the Lincoln Road area while we conduct our enquiries and clear the scene."
