14 Dec 2013

Karaoke crash blamed on alcohol and speed

1:36 pm on 14 December 2013

Five people were taken to hospital after a car crashed into a karaoke bar in Papatoetoe in South Auckland.

The police believe alcohol and speed were to blame.

They received a call at 3am on Saturday from a member of the public who was worried a Holden Commodore was being driven at speed.

Shortly after the complaint, the emergency services were called to the crash on the corner of Great South Road and East Tamaki Road.

A set of traffic lights had been knocked over, exposing live wires and a fight had broken out between the people in the car and some bar patrons.

Senior Sergeant Duncan Hall said a pedestrian who was hit by the car suffered a leg injury.

He said it appears that a fight broke out after the crash between the occupants in the car and bar patrons.

"There were a number of injured people from the vehicle and there was also a pedestrian that had been struck by the vehicle and pinned against the wall of the bar. There was one person seriously injured and he was from the car. At this stage we don't know if that was as a result of the car accident or the subsequent fight."

Senior Sergeant Duncan Hall said the Serious Crash Unit was investigating.