Terrifying footage has emerged of two tractors chasing down people and their cars during a burnout event in Palmerston North that police say could have had a "devastating outcome".
Footage sent to Newshub by a woman who was caught up in the frightening ordeal shows two tractor drivers erratically driving at people, their cars and over a traffic island.
Newshub has agreed not to name the woman and her friend, both of whom are Palmerston North locals, and instead will refer to them as Judy and Dwayne.
The pair told Newshub they were travelling through Feilding to see some friends on February 24 when they stumbled across a group of boy racers on the intersection of Awahuri Feilding Rd and Steward Rd at about 11:30pm.
Dwayne said they pulled over to the side of the road because the group doing doughnuts blocked the intersection.
"We stopped and we could see a couple of tractors coming down the hill and one of the tractor drivers blocked the road at one end, the other tractor driver tried to block the road at the other end."
But within minutes of stopping, Dwayne said one tractor driver "suddenly" did a U-turn and "came crashing over the traffic island and tried to run Judy over".
Meanwhile, Dwayne said the other tractor driver began "chasing down people" with the bucket of their tractor.
"I had to jump out of the way four times. He ploughed into the side of somebody's car and ripped the door clean in half of the car, backed out of that and just came straight at me with the bucket."
The video shows both of the tractors chasing those on the road down, while many are seen frantically running away.
Dwayne said he had to jump into a nearby ditch several times to avoid the trailing tractor, resulting in a sprained ankle.
"He was so erratic, you couldn't even predict the way he was going to go," he said.
"It was like something out of The Twilight Zone."
Dwayne said he and others attempted to jump onto the tractors to pull the key out.
"There was one young guy that managed to get on top of the tractor with the cab and tried to get in with the keys. He got thrown off the tractor and got mowed down with the bucket," he claimed.
"I saw them lifting him into a car obviously to go to the doctor or the hospital."
Part of the video shows a person armed with a spade attempting to climb onto the tractor, but that failed. The person instead whacked the tractor driver with the garden tool.
Judy told Newshub she's "terrified" of tractors now, worried a tractor she may see could be the one that she claims tried to run her over.
"Every time I see a tractor I'm like, 'F**k is that the same tractor'. I don't even want to leave my house by myself just in case he recognises the car we were in."
Though the pair aren't burnout enthusiasts, they both agree running at people with tractors isn't the way to deal with a frustrating situation.
"Here's somebody who's taken the law into their own hands and is using a six or seven-tonne piece of equipment to try and run people over with," Dwayne said.
Locals fed up with boyracers
One of the tractor drivers who didn't want to be named told Newshub him and his neighbours are sick of it.
He said it wasn't their intention to hurt anyone but to get them to "piss off".
He says they took matters into their own hands when police took too long to show up.
Manwatū Area Commander Inspector Ross Grantham told Newshub police received multiple reports of intimidating behaviour and illegal driving at the intersection.
Insp Grantham said a tractor driver was reportedly assaulted and had their windows smashed, with other vehicles damaged too.
He added everyone at the intersection had left by the time police arrived, but have since found some people involved.
"This could have had a devastating outcome. Police are talking with some of those people involved and reviewing imagery taken on the night."
Insp Grantham said gatherings like the one seen in the video are irresponsible and put people at risk, but "the response in the video isn't what we want to see".
He urged anyone who witnesses anti-social behaviour to call police and provide any photos or videos if possible.
"Importantly, we don't want people putting themselves in harm's way to either record events, or confront the people taking part in them."
Watch the full video above.
