The owner of the Dunedin liquor store that was targeted by thieves who were involved in a fatal crash says he has little sympathy for them and was looking forward to facing them in court.
Police said five people were involved in the robbery of Bottle-O on Hillside Rd in the early hours of Saturday morning.
When officers arrived at the shop, they found a vehicle of interest nearby, but when they attempted to stop it, the thieves fled. Less than a minute later, the vehicle lost control and crashed on Melbourne St.
Police confirmed one of the five occupants - all aged in their 20s - died at the scene. Two were taken to hospital in serious condition and one had minor injuries.
Bottle-O Hillside owner Michael Sumner told NZ Herald he is sorry the crash happened but has little sympathy for the thieves.
"It sounds really callous, but I'm not as upset as maybe everyone thinks I should be or could be," he said.
"But all that grief now, for such a small thing - $300 worth of beer - such a stupid thing."
He told NZ Herald the thieves cut the locks off a storage garage with bolt cutters and took six crates of beer.
Southern District Commander Supt Paul Basham said officers aim to keep the community safe and a tragic outcome like this is the last thing anyone wants.
"Incidents like this have huge impacts for everyone involved - those in the fleeing vehicle, as well as attending police," Basham said.
"Our message to people is quite simple - if you are signalled to stop by police, then stop. The potential outcome is so much worse if you choose to flee."
A criminal investigation is underway, which is still in its early stages, police said. The matter has also been referred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
The comments by the bottle store owner come on the same day police revealed they had refreshed their fleeing driver pursuit policy, which comes into effect immediately.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said fleeing drivers are more brazen and are taking more risks in their driving behaviour.
He said the changes mean there is an increased chance officers will pursue when an offender flees.
There were nearly 10,000 more vehicles fleeing from police in 2022, more than double the number recorded prior to 2020, when changes to the policy were last made.
The revised policy includes the new Fleeing Driver Framework, which is a decision support tool to assist staff with determining if the immediate risk of safety posed by the fleeing driver justifies a pursuit or not.
Commissioner Coster is confident this will reduce public safety concerns.
"As a result of an increased number of drivers fleeing, the risk to the public increases whether police are pursuing or not," he said.
"So what we are aiming for with this policy is to reduce the number of people who flee from police and increase safety overall, accepting that when we pursue there is a risk with that."
