The officer who fired the Glock missed his target but the man was hit by the second sponge round fired. Photo:
Two officers who shot a Glock pistol and sponge rounds at a man fleeing arrest in Palmerston North did an "excellent job in apprehending a dangerous offender", police say.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found the officers were justified in using force to arrest the man.
In April 2021, a warrant was issued for the man's arrest after he accessed methamphetamine in breach of parole conditions and a committed a raft of other serious incidents, including four fleeing driver incidents where he failed to stop for police and rammed a police vehicle.
He had also been involved in a burglary and theft of cars using a firearm.
In July 2021, the man was spotted in a car at a Palmerston North house. The Armed Offenders Squad attempted to make an arrest but he escaped.
A police dog was released and two officers who then located the man fired a Glock and sponge round launcher in an attempt to stop him.
The officer who fired the Glock missed his target but the man was hit by the second sponge round fired. He continued to flee before being arrested without incident a short time later.
During the operation, police also detained and searched three people from the house where the man had stopped and a woman from another car parked at the house.
The authority found the two officers who used force against the man were justified in doing so under the Crimes Act 1961.
They also found that police had the power to detain and search all four people in the house under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.
Relieving central district commander acting Superintendent Cliff Brown acknowledged the IPCA finding.
"This was an extremely fast paced job with an offender who was motivated to evade arrest. The officers had to make split second decisions to ensure the safety of the wider community, themselves, and their colleagues."
Brown said as was standard, police had debriefed the incident and attempted to learn from it.
"Our staff and organisation are always looking at how we can improve but overall, our officers did an excellent job in apprehending a dangerous offender."
