Three of the four men charged over the incident appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, one facing three new charges after the burglary ended with one person dead.
Robert Francis Taylor (29) is accused of causing injury to two of his co-defendants — Thomas Bridgman (25) and Hakopa Sonny Taylor (29) — along with the more serious charges of manslaughter and causing the death of Michael McClelland while driving with a blood alcohol level of 153mg.
Robert Taylor was allegedly more than three times the legal limit at the time of his arrest.
Mr McClelland, a 26-year-old father of one, died at the scene of the crash after being in the vehicle associated with the Bottle-O break-in in Hillside Rd on May 27.
The Taylors, Bridgman and Jayden Ngaro Maki (27) allegedly cut the locks off a storage garage with three-foot bolt-cutters — taking six crates of beer, valued at $300.
The four survivors are accused of fleeing the scene.
Officers found the vehicle shortly after it fled and attempted to stop it.
Less than a minute later, the driver lost control of the car at high speed and skidded about 50m down the street before the car crashed into a power pole.
Two of the survivors were taken to hospital with serious injuries and one sustained minor injuries.
Robert Taylor is on bail at present, awaiting his next appearance in the High Court later this month.
Maki and Bridgman are in custody, while Hakopa Taylor is on bail. All three are awaiting their next appearance in the Dunedin District Court in August.
erin.cox@odt.co.nz . PIJF court reporter
