Yelling - then car hits police station

CHRIS HILLOCK/Waikato Times

WAY IN: The car which smashed through the front doors of Hamilton police station yesterday.

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A Hamilton man who drove his car through the front doors of Hamilton Central Police Station was heard yelling out the window just seconds before the crash.

Witnesses saw the man, who also had a passenger in the car, travelling down Bridge St toward Victoria St just before 1pm when he took a sudden right-hand turn, mounted the kerb and drove about 20 metres through the station's two sets of double front doors, coming to rest just metres from the service desk.

No-one in the police station was injured in the impact but two police officers were hurt after trying to restrain the driver who lashed out when being removed from the car.

A pool of blood was left near one of the smashed windows, while large amounts of glass was splayed throughout the foyer.

The car missed Quentin Smith, who was walking with his partner and young baby in a pushchair, by a matter of metres after they had just walked past the station.

He said he saw the car travelling down Bridge St before watching it make the sharp right turn as the driver yelled out the window.

He said the noise of the Mitsubishi mounting the kerb was louder than it smashing through the station.

Hamilton city area commander Inspector Rob Lindsay said the incident was "inches away" from being a tragedy as the car narrowly missed several people waiting in the foyer and working at the service desk.

"Initial indications are the male driver is suffering from mental health issues the extent of which we can't comment on at this stage. What I can say is that he was extremely unco-operative and aggressive toward our staff and had to be forcibly extracted from the car."

Mr Lindsay said a female constable had five stitches for a cut to her hand while her male colleague suffered an eye socket injury.

The driver was sedated and under guard this morning in Waikato Hospital after receiving treatment for his injuries.

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