Police dogs help find drive-off suspects

A cross-country getaway following a petrol drive-off in Mataura ended in farmland 10km away after three offenders were flushed out of hiding by police dog handlers yesterday.

Sergeant Sharee Winsloe, of Gore, said the five-hour hunt for the accused offenders began about 7.15am after police were notified about a petrol drive-off from a Mataura service station.

Further inquiries revealed the vehicle was stolen and was wanted in connection with dishonesty offences throughout the lower South Island, she said.

At 9.43am a police officer looking for the vehicle passed it travelling in the opposite direction towards Mataura on State Highway 96, Ms Winsloe said. The driver sped away as the officer turned to follow the car, which turned left off the highway into McGill Rd, between Te Tipua and Mataura.

A pursuit was not started because of the distance between the vehicles, she said.

However, it appeared the driver knew police were following and turned into an open paddock, she said.

The car travelled across the paddock and down a gully before becoming bogged, Ms Winsloe said.

The occupants of the car then fled across the farmland on foot.

Police units from much of Eastern Southland and Invercargill converged on the farmland cordoning the land bordered by State Highway 96, Waimumu, McGill and Paterson roads.

Two Invercargill-based dog handlers were called, while police door-knocked residents to let them know was was happening and to keep a watch for the fugitives, Ms Winsloe said.

A fixed-wing aircraft from the Gore Aero Club flew over the area, while the dog handlers and another officer continued to close in on the offenders on the ground, she said.

At 12.30pm a dog unit radioed the officers manning the cordons to say three people had been found hiding in scrub in a gully about 250 metres from Paterson Rd.

Two men aged 18 and 45, along with a 22-year-old woman, were arrested and taken into police custody. Police inquiries relating to numerous charges likely to be laid against the three, all from the Dunedin area, were continuing, Ms Winsloe said.

One was likely to appear in the Invercargill District Court today. The other two are expected to appear in the Gore District Court on Thursday.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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