When police chased a Mosgiel man into a motel, they had him cornered. Tawake Matenga (35) had nowhere to run.
He did, however, have somewhere to hide.
On April 29, Matenga was on bail and supposed to be abiding by a 24-hour curfew on various serious driving charges, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
A passing police car saw him strolling down George St and there was a brief foot race as the defendant sought refuge with family members staying at Owens Motel.
When officers reached the room, the occupants denied Matenga was present and a thorough search of the property seemed to confirm that.
Confused, police spoke to motel staff and reviewed CCTV footage that revealed the fugitive had not escaped.
He could only be in the room.
After a more intense search, officers discovered Matenga was in the roof cavity, but he had no intention of handing himself in.
The defendant scrambled around, smashing holes in the plasterboard in a bid to get away, before eventually becoming stuck.
Matenga was eventually apprehended.
Judge Dominic Flatley also outlined the man’s earlier offending, which began on April 2 when he was caught driving while disqualified. Only three weeks later, Matenga was pulled over again.
This time, however, he accelerated heavily as police approached his vehicle.
In the resulting chase he reached speeds of at least 100kmh in Great King St, a 50kmh zone.
Matenga wove in and out of traffic and pursuing officers pulled out because of the risk to the public.
When interviewed by Probation, the defendant admitted he had developed a harmful pattern of drug abuse after losing his job during the Covid-19 lockdown.
While he was assessed as at a medium risk of reoffending, he was deemed “contrite” by those who spoke to him.
Judge Flatley imposed six months’ home detention and banned Matenga from driving until May 2022.
He was ordered to pay $3192 for the damage he caused to the ceiling.
