Charge follows crash

BY: MICHELLE ROBINSON

A 50-year-old Paremoremo man has been charged with dangerous driving after a fatal crash involving multiple cars in Albany on Tuesday.

Dressed in a white police-issued top, Cornelis Klein was remanded in custody until later this month for psychiatric assessment.

He laughed as he stood in the dock at North Shore District Court.

Michael Roden Plimmer, 71, from Albany, was killed in a collision that saw up to eight vehicles – including a police car – damaged at the intersection of Rosedale Rd and Bush Rd at around 12.30pm on Tuesday.

Klein was driving with his former partner’s 18-year-old daughter when he started talking about taking his own life, the police summary of facts said.

His "behaviour changed with him shouting and screaming" while driving on the Albany Expressway, the summary said.

The woman pleaded with him to let her out but he refused until she threatened to call police.

He pulled over and got out of the vehicle to follow her before returning to it while she phoned police, the summary said.

It said police responded to the call and drove past the Jeep Cherokee driven by Klein, who gave them a one-fingered gesture and chased them at up to 90kmh.

Klein made a statement to police, admitting to deliberately ramming a police vehicle, "stating he wanted to punish them for passing him", the police summary said.

Klein said the vehicle was "going too fast", it said.

The police car had virtually stopped behind traffic at a red light when Klein hit them from behind at speed, police say.

The ramming pushed the patrol car into the path of oncoming traffic, causing more collisions.

The police summary said Klein’s vehicle rolled over Mr Plimmer’s vehicle "at speed, crushing the roof" and killing him instantly.

Klein crawled out with minor injuries and was escorted by police to North Shore Hospital to be treated.

No other injuries were reported.

New Zealand Couriers driver Lovey Woodhouse’s vehicle was hit by the oncoming police car while travelling through the intersection.

"It hit other cars in front of me," Mrs Woodhouse said shortly after the crash.

"I thought there’s not much I can do, so I stopped. The cop car hit me about 50 to 60 metres before coming to a halt."

After the crash she saw a policewoman gasp for breath and run to an overturned vehicle. The driver crawled out of it and lay on the kerb, Mrs Woodhouse says.

"All I’m picturing is the black car flipping and the cop car racing towards me. I was helpless."

She says the response from emergency services was "awesome" – arriving within five and 10 minutes.

There were major delays as traffic was diverted from the intersections of Bush Rd and Tarndale Grove, Rosedale Rd and Airborne Rd, Bush Rd near Albany Highway and at Rosedale Rd and Clemows Lane.

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A crash between a truck and a ute on the old Albany highway intersection with Green Rd near Dairy Flat happened about 15 minutes before the Rosedale incident. Both drivers suffered moderate to serious injuries and the roads were closed for several hours.

- © Fairfax NZ News