Report on Rotorua boy's death released

by Kristy Martin | 27th July 2010

An independent report into a police chase which ended in the death of a Rotorua boy has criticised police.

It said police breached policy and made errors of judgment in the high-speed pursuit that ended with the death of Rotorua 14-year-old Pehi Tahana in 2007.

Family of Pehi say they are satisfied with the findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority in its report on the incident.

Pehi was killed instantly when the stolen Holden Commodore he was driving hit road spikes and crashed into a stationary van on Harwoods Rd in the Kaimai Ranges, South Waikato, on February 5, 2007.

Pehi's grandmother Elaine Tahana, who lives in Rotoiti, told The Daily Post that she and her husband were the first to receive the report.

"We've had enough time to read through it and we're very satisfied."

Mrs Tahana said she was happy the police had learned from the incident and that it was an all round good report.

She said the rest of the family were also satisfied with the report.

 Released yesterday, the report found the final stage of the pursuit was "plagued by difficulties with communication".

Police made errors in judgment in allowing the pursuit to continue, and breached policy in using road spikes when the car was travelling too fast for them to be deployed.

They began pursuing Pehi shortly after he took off from a service station in Papamoa without paying for petrol.

The unroadworthy car had been reported stolen from Rotorua the night before.

The authority found police complied with pursuit and communication policies during the early stages of the pursuit.

However, they were plagued by communication difficulties during the final 14 minutes of the pursuit, which covered almost 30km over the Kaimai Ranges at an average speed of 122kmh.

The final stage took place through areas covered by three different police radio channels, which led to confusion about which car was leading the pursuit and how many police vehicles were involved.

Communication issues also led to the decision to use road spikes, which should not have been used on a car driving at more than 100km/h.

The car was travelling at 126km/h before it began to brake about 42 metres ahead of the spikes.

It hit the spikes at 116km/h or more, losing control and sliding into a parked van, about 2.40pm.

One person in the van suffered minor injuries, as well as two people travelling with Pehi Tahana.

The authority found the pursuit should have been abandoned earlier and the decision to use road spikes was a breach of policy.

It also found the pursuit controller breached policy by failing to adequately supervise, monitor or maintain communications between the pursuing officers.

The findings followed a police report released last week that found a ban on pursuits was unlikely to improve or guarantee public safety. So far this year, police have recorded 1280 pursuits, with 199 ending in crashes, six deaths and 61 injuries.

Assistant Commissioner Grant Nicholas said many changes had been made to police pursuit policy since Pehi's death.

Mr Nicholas said police did not undertake pursuits lightly and that Pehi's death was a tragedy.

"There's no circumstance where this is an outcome that police are happy with and our sympathies go to the family and friends of the boy that died that day, but, at the end of the day, we can't let unlawful, dangerous driving occur on our roads."

Pehi had been driving a stolen car, had fled from a petrol station without paying, and had failed to stop for police, Mr Nicholas said.

"The officers on the day are faced with a really, really difficult situation and some challenging calls have to be made," he said. - additional reporting by NZPA