Officers who kicked and punched teen on the ground unjustified – police watchdog

A teenager who drove a stolen car from New Plymouth to Auckland was kicked and punched by officers, an investigation has found.

An Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) investigation found officers were justified in striking the 15-year-old while getting him out of a stolen car, but were unjustified in kicking and punching the teen while he was restrained.

On August 14, 2022, the teen had driven a stolen car from New Plymouth to Manurewa in South Auckland – a distance of more than 350km – when he was seen by police.

He failed to pull over – despite the tyres of the car being spiked – and finally came to a stop almost 40km away in Henderson, where he was arrested.

When two officers tried to pull him from the car, it jerked forward about a metre, narrowly missing another officer in front of the car.

The IPCA said in response, the two officers hit the driver’s head and body and then pulled him out of the car.

Once the teen was on the ground, a number of officers restrained him before he was handcuffed. The teen complained he was kicked and punched on the head and body while being restrained.

The IPCA found police were justified in striking the teen inside the car to prevent it moving forward and potentially running over other officers.

Officers involved denied kicking and punching the teen while he was on the ground but the IPCA found that it did happen. However, the watchdog couldn’t identify which officers were responsible.

One officer who arrived at the scene while the teen was on the ground told the IPCA he saw two officers throw about five punches around the teen’s head area along with a couple of kicks.

The officer said the teen was “not resisting” and it seemed “excessive”. The officer couldn’t identify who had taken part in the kicking and punching as they were from a different police district.

Video footage taken as more officers arrived at the scene showed one officer kicking the teen as he was handcuffed.

The officer denied to the IPCA that it was a kick, and said it was a “stumble”, but the authority didn’t agree after assessing the footage.

When the teenager arrived at the Counties Manukau custody unit he was seen by a doctor and had a number of facial injuries.

“Although denied by the officers, I am satisfied the driver was kicked and punched when he was pulled onto the ground.

“This was an unjustified and excessive use of force. Unfortunately, we cannot identify who these officers were, and it would be entirely inappropriate to speculate,” IPCA chairperson Judge Kenneth Johnston said.

Relieving Counties Manukau District Commander Inspector Matt Srhoj said police accepted the findings and it was a “fast-moving situation”.

”Our staff are faced with challenges every day which require decisions to be made sometimes in a split-second.

”We acknowledge the findings of the Authority and have taken learnings from this incident.”