Detective Inspector Darrell Harpur:

One person has been taken into custody following a serious incident in Waikato this afternoon.

At around 12:30pm, Police were notified of a person escaping custody and assaulting two Corrections Officers outside Waikato Hospital.

The alleged offender has then reportedly carjacked a vehicle in the hospital carpark and fled the scene.

Police made area enquiries to locate the man in the stolen vehicle, before it was sighted by the Eagle helicopter in Te Awamutu at around 3:25pm.

The Eagle Helicopter tracked the vehicle until Police staff on the ground located it, and was successfully spiked on Cambridge Road, Leamington around 3:40pm.

The vehicle then came to a stop just off Cambridge Road approximately five minutes later, where the offender was taken into custody.

The 25-year-old man is due to appear in the Hamilton District Court tomorrow, facing a number of serious charges.

This was a rapidly evolving incident, and I would like to commend staff who swiftly formulated and executed a plan to locate and arrest the man involved before further people were brought in harm’s way.

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