Police have admitted to a “genuine mistake” after a spike strip left on the roof of a patrol car during an arrest fell off while driving on Auckland’s Southern Motorway this morning, deflating the tyres of seven vehicles.
Officers arrested a man at a Greenlane business before 3.30am this morning.
Inspector Jim Wilson said staff moved some equipment while putting the arrested man into the car but, unfortunately, left the road spike strip, also known as a Tactical Deflation Device, on the roof.
“After getting the man ready for transport, the staff neglected to put the Tactical Deflation Devices back into the vehicle. When the unit entered the motorway network at Greenlane, the Tactical Deflation Devices have fallen onto the road.”
Seven vehicles then ran over the spike strips, causing some tyres to be deflated.
Police conducted a sweep of the motorway to prevent any further damage to vehicles.
Wilson said the incident was a “regrettable situation” and staff had made a “genuine mistake”.
“We will be having further discussions with our staff, highlighting the learnings from this incident around storage of Tactical Deflation Devices.”
Drivers who had their vehicles’ tyres’ popped would be reimbursed, police said.
