The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found a Police motorcycle officer was not justified in pursuing a man on a motorcycle in Auckland on the morning of 13 July 2023. The man died when he hit a lamppost in Greenhithe, after being pursued at high speeds for 11km.
The Police officer was assisting with a checkpoint in Lincoln Road when he saw the man's Ducati motorcycle weaving slowly through heavy traffic. The officer signalled for the man to stop, but the man rode onto the motorway, followed by the officer.
Multiple CCTV cameras captured the motorcyclists as they travelled at significantly higher speeds than other traffic on State Highways 16 and 18. Footage shows the man often rode about 180 kph while the officer, sometimes only 100m behind, rode at speeds of up to 192 kph. Both the man and officer crossed lanes on several occasions and moved very close to other vehicles. While the officer says he decided to abandon the pursuit shortly before the man took an offramp and crashed into the lamppost, there is no indication of this in the footage.
In our assessment, the speed and manner of riding of both the man and the officer posed a serious risk of injury or death to themselves and other road users. Critically, the officer should have realised that the man's alleged offending did not justify the significant risk created by continuing to pursue him at high speed.
In our view, the officer's assessment of the risks was seriously flawed. He appears to have overestimated his ability to consider all the necessary risk factors and to make sound decisions.
As an example, the officer did not tell the Police Communications Centre he was in pursuit and provided no commentary throughout the pursuit because his radio was not working. As well as being a breach of policy, this left his actions unchecked by those tasked with command and control of pursuits.
We concluded the officer should have abandoned the pursuit soon after entering State Highway 16 given he was unable to communicate with Police Communications, and the high speeds involved.
The officer was charged and acquitted of Dangerous Driving Causing Death. He was convicted of Driving a Motor Vehicle in a Dangerous Manner and disqualified from driving for six months. An employment process commenced. In April 2026, near the end of this process, the officer resigned from Police.
We agreed with Police's decision to charge the officer. The officer's actions were dangerous, were in breach of policy, and were a material contributing factor to the crash.
Our full report is available on the IPCA website.
The Authority completed its investigation into this incident in March 2024 but delayed the release of its public report until after the conclusion of court proceedings and the employment process in April 2026.
