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Two junior police officers who pursued a car until it fatally crashed in Wellington have been found justified in pursuing the vehicle, despite breaching police policy.
In the early hours of 26 March 2023, a car carrying five people was seen speeding through a red light on Waterloo Quay by two officers in a patrol car, who turned on their lights and siren, pursuing the vehicle
The car crashed into a building on Cable Street just over a kilometre later, leaving the driver and one passenger dead, and three others injured.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found the crash was caused by the driver, 19-year-old CJ-Lee Taingahue, who was under the influence of alcohol and drugs, driving dangerously and losing control of the vehicle - not by the police officers' decision to pursue.
Taingahue had a blood alcohol level of 174 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, and also had Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active substance in cannabis, and synthetic cathinones (Dimethylpentylone and Pentylone) in his system. He was on a learner licence.
Police later established that during the trip into Wellington, Taingahue drove at extremely high speeds, at one point exceeding 180 kilometres per hour, where the speed limit was 100km/h.
Police interviews with the surviving passengers found they all told Taingahue to slow down, but after the police car began pursuit, Taingahue panicked and increased his speed.
The IPCA found: "We consider it was appropriate for the police to try and stop the Mazda. However, by activating the emergency lights and siren in their attempt to do so, it is likely that police inadvertently influenced the intoxicated driver to continue to drive dangerously."
"[The two officers] breached police policy, but this was not a factor in the fatal crash."
The relative inexperience of the two officers, who had both recently graduated from Police College and were partnered without immediate supervision, was noted by the authority, but ruled not to have played a part in causing the crash.
"We do not consider this was a factor in the incident, although more experienced officers may have considered how a fleeing driver would react and may have used the police radio more promptly."
The police said in a statement: "We accept that in this instance the officers involved breached the Fleeing Driver Policy by failing to complete a risk assessment, where a conversation did not take place between the officers regarding the course of action they would take should the offender fail to stop.
"The other breach found was that the officers had not advised the Emergency Communications Centre at the earliest opportunity that the vehicle had fled police."
A review by Wellington Police recommended increased driving training and pursuit policy at Police College.
As a result, police said the amount of time devoted to driver training at Police College had doubled from 4.5 days to 9 days, including a practical session specifically focused on safe resolution of fleeing driver incidents.
Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said they felt for those involved.
"Sadly, this crash was a result of a young driver's bad decisions; a decision to ignore the friend who told him not to drive, a decision to ignore the passengers who asked him to slow down, and a decision to flee police.
"Those decisions have affected a number of people, including the emergency service staff who tried hard to save lives on the side of a central Wellington street.
"Our message to the public remains the same: If you're under the influence, please never get behind the wheel."
