A man described by police as "high risk" and known to carry firearms crashed to a halt as a police vehicle and a firetruck blocked the road in Auckland's CBD last night.
The 40-year-old man was wanted by police over a previous family harm matter, police told 1 NEWS.
A police spokesperson initially said the Fire and Emergency New Zealand truck was used, along with police vehicles, to block the driver after he was spotted driving into Auckland from the North Shore.
However, police later clarified that the firetruck "happened to be in the next lane at the time the offender’s vehicle was stopped".
"The Fire and Emergency vehicle was not involved in the police operation," police added.
"A co-ordinated approach to apprehend the male was organised with the Eagle helicopter monitoring the location of the vehicle after it left an address on the North Shore around 8pm.
"Given the offender's history with firearms, the armed offenders squad assisted in apprehending the male on Halsey Street near Victoria Street around 9.45pm."
Police at the scene remained armed as a clean-up job was carried out following the collision, which involved a silver Nissan Teana.
The man is due to appear in North Shore District Court today on a number of matters he was being sought for.
Firefighters Union national secretary Wattie Watson said claims the firetruck was used in the operation was wrong.
"It was purely a coincidence that the hazmat appliance and crew were at an intersection and the alleged offender collided with the appliance," he said.
"They were then surrounded by police as they blocked the alleged offender from driving any further. The appliance was damaged but the crew were not hurt."
As a general policy, firefighters do not interfere with law enforcement operations.
"Firefighters protect the community and preserve life and property. They are not enforcers," Watson said.
"Firefighters are not trained or equipped for any police enforcement activity."
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