'Hoping for the best': How a police officer was left fighting for his life after a car struck him

A police officer is in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital after he was struck by a car, allegedly stolen in Palmerston North, and thrown several metres. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports on what is known so far.

It was about 2am on Saturday when a Palmerston North-based constable decided to use some road spikes in an attempt to stop what was believed to be a stolen car.

The officer, who has been in the police for less than two years, was behind his police car as he prepared to use the spikes at a driveway.

Moments later the car he was trying to stop travelled down Kairanga Bunnythorpe Rd in Manawatū on the wrong side of the road.

Police say the driver, a teenager, managed to avoid the spikes before striking a car, shunting it out of the way, and hitting two police officers.

One of the officers, described as a "fantastic young man", was thrown several metres into the side of a car parked in the drive. His colleague suffered minor injuries.

The critically injured officer, who is a father to a toddler, is now on a ventilator at Wellington Hospital, surrounded by his family.

A 14-year-old and 15-year-old are in custody and a police critical incident investigation is underway, with the Independent Police Conduct Authority also notified.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Central District Commander Superintendent Dion Bennett said the incident was "driven by two young people".

"They've stolen a car, and they've made a decision. I don't know based on what.

"However, we're responding to their actions and I think that we, in this instance, did all that we could a) to try and apprehend them in the first instance, and then b) avoid this, which is the worst outcome."

Driver allegedly fled from police

Bennett said the driver of the car was signalled to stop about 2am on Amberley Avenue, but allegedly fled.

"Police followed the vehicle initially, and as that vehicle sped away, police withdrew from that pursuit.

"It was on a long, straight stretch of road and our officers, who know the area very well, were some way down that road and took a vantage point and decided they would use it to deploy spikes."

The officer was positioned behind his police car while preparing to deploy the spikes at a driveway between Rongotea Rd and Gillespies Line.

Bennett said the car was travelling eastbound on the wrong side of the road when it struck the police car, and then the two officers.

"At the time that they were struck, they had just deployed spikes to stop the stolen vehicle.

"The stolen vehicle was travelling at such a speed that it avoided the spikes or swerved to avoid the spikes, struck a police car, shunted the police car out of the way, and went on to strike the other officers."

The officer's colleague immediately provided support to him while other staff responded to the scene.

The officer was flown to Wellington Hospital, arriving about 4am "in spite of challenging weather conditions", Bennett said.

Two youths were arrested at the scene.

Officer's family 'extremely thankful' to responders

Speaking to media on Saturday afternoon, Bennett said the officer remained in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital with his family beside him.

"He's on a ventilator, and it's a matter of time and waiting until such time as the medical team can make further assessments and give us a prognosis. That time may not be as soon as we hope for."

Bennett said the officer's family had asked him to acknowledge those who responded to the incident.

"On behalf of the family, I'd like to say thank you to firstly our officer's immediate colleagues who were on scene with him, whose immediate actions certainly have been beneficial to the first responders and to the flight teams that got him here, they're extremely thankful to them and the medical teams that are working with him now. So, on behalf of the family, we say thank you."

Asked whether the incident appeared to be "targeted", Bennett said that would form part of the investigation.

"But there's nothing that initial examination would say it was intentional. However, there's interviews with the suspects to complete, there's a scene examination, as you can imagine, which will take some time and be thorough."

Bennett did not know how fast the stolen car was travelling at this time, and said it was too early to say what charges the teens would be facing.

He said the officer was a young father.

"Him and his partner have a young toddler, and he comes from a very strong family, who are service-orientated. They describe him as having a deep soul for a young man, and importantly, in their words, 'he's a good bloke'.

"He's the type of person that you want to sit down and have a conversation with, and certainly in his career, his short career as a police officer, he graduated in December 2024… he certainly proved to be that."

Bennett said police were "extremely grateful the outcome was not worse".

"That is thanks to the efforts of those who responded. The officers' colleagues were faced with an appalling situation and I'm incredibly proud of them," he said.

"Everyone went above and beyond to save a life last night, and it made the difference."

'We are humbled by the support'

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers visited the officer in Wellington Hospital on Saturday.

He praised the actions of the staff at the scene.

"Their response was fast and effective, and they provided the best care they could while ambulance staff got to the scene. No amount of training can prepare you for a situation where you are trying to save the life of a colleague and friend, and they acted with exceptional professionalism.

"This incident highlights the risk my staff face while doing their jobs to keep their communities safe and I would like to acknowledge the efforts of everyone involved last night."

Chambers is travelling to Palmerston North on Saturday evening to speak with the staff there.

"We are humbled by the support from members of the community and people across the country, and on behalf of my staff, I thank everyone who has sent kind messages of support."

Police Minister Mark Mitchell earlier told RNZ he was travelling to Wellington to support the injured officer.

"The Commissioner and I will be providing any support that the family require," he said.

"Policing by its sheer nature does carry risk, there's no doubt about that, but of course that doesn't lessen or reduce the impact that is felt when one of our police officers is injured in the line of duty.

"They are out there protecting their community, they are representative of us, they do carry that risk, but it doesn't make it any easier when a police officer is seriously hurt, injured or killed."

The president of the Police Association, Steve Watt, said incidents like this were felt by all members.

"Ultimately, the police is a big family and when these sorts of things happen it really cuts deep and it affects us all," he said.

"Much like the rest of our members, we're waiting and hoping for the best outcome."

Watt said the association was working with police's welfare network and organising wrap around support, not only for the officer but for his family.

"There's a reasonably large contingent of family that have headed to Wellington, so we'll look to continue to support them and make sure that they're well looked after," he said.