Subscriber Stories: How a routine drive turned into a nightmare

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This week on Subscriber Stories, Noel is sharing the story below. He has come forward to describe what happened to his son and daughter-in-law on the Auckland motorway, the charges they now face, and the impact the incident has had on their family. Noel believes the public deserves to know what unfolded and why they are now fighting for answers and accountability.

How a routine drive turned into a nightmare

I never imagined I would be writing something like this, but what happened to my son and daughter-in-law on the Western Motorway on Sunday 9 November has left our whole family shaken.

They were driving along on a normal afternoon when they came up behind a police car travelling at about 85km/h and holding up traffic. My son eventually passed on the left at around 100km/h, maybe even a bit less. He thought nothing of it. A while later he noticed the police car behind him with its lights on. Because he was sitting on the legal limit and had done nothing wrong, he assumed it must have been for someone else. When it became obvious the officer was signalling him, he pulled over.

When the officer came to the window, he asked why he was being stopped. She told him she did not have to tell him, which I am sure is not true. He handed over his licence and was given two breath tests, the blow-type ones they are apparently using now because of concerns about earlier devices being faked. At some point my daughter-in-law got mouthy and called the officer a “tart”. The officer also called her a tart. I do not know who said it first, but I do know my son complied with everything asked of him. These are not kids we are talking about, they are both 45 years old.

What happened next, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary. The officer told them she was calling for backup, despite the fact neither of them attempted to leave the vehicle or pose any threat. Only minutes later the passenger door was yanked open and three male officers appeared. My daughter-in-law was told she was under arrest. She must have resisted when they tried to pull her out, because they pepper-sprayed her and dragged her onto the road face down. One officer had his knee on the back of her head.

My son jumped out to help her because her dress had ridden up and she was exposed. He was shouting for them to cover her. For that, he was tasered twice, pepper-sprayed, handcuffed, and thrown into the back of a police car. He told them he could not breathe and asked them to open a window, but they refused. A paramedic later checked him and said he needed to go to hospital, but the police declined to take him.

Both were taken to the station and put in cells for about five hours. They asked to call their children, aged 10, 14, and 16, but police refused. Our 16-year-old granddaughter spent the evening texting and calling them, eventually going online to check for accidents because she feared the worst. That, more than anything, is what has made me angriest. She then had to drive, on a restricted licence, to pick them up with her younger siblings at around 10pm.

Now they are facing charges of resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, and unbelievably, attempted murder. The attempted murder charge comes from an accusation that my son pushed an officer into oncoming traffic. Footage shows this did not happen and that a motorway management truck was actually stopping traffic. Motorway Cops were apparently filming at the time, so the public may eventually see it for themselves.

To make things worse, when they went to Auckland Hospital they were left sitting for two hours without treatment. They gave up and went home. When they went to North Shore Hospital the next day, the nurse refused to let my son into the room because she claimed he caused the injuries, despite both of them repeatedly saying the police were responsible. My daughter-in-law was x-rayed 13 times and is passing blood. The discharge form even claims her injuries were caused by my son assaulting her. They are trying to have that corrected.

They were meant to appear in court last Friday but got an extension to 5 December through a duty lawyer. They will seek another one. Everything has to go through lawyers, who cost $400 per hour each. They do not have that kind of money. And many lawyers do not want to take cases that challenge the police. How is one month supposed to be enough time to defend charges that could put someone behind bars for a decade?

I am telling this story because what happened to them should worry every New Zealander. A routine drive should not end with parents pepper-sprayed, tasered, humiliated, misrepresented in medical notes, and facing charges that make no sense. Our family wants answers, and justice.

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