A senior police officer said a sadness hangs over the team as an officer remains on a ventilator in intensive care after being struck by a stolen car over the weekend.
At around 2am on Saturday, a constable was deploying spikes on Kairanga Bunnythorpe Rd when a stolen vehicle struck him. He was airlifted to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition.
It was one of two incidents in the region over the weekend. In Feilding just two hours earlier, another man was critically injured after being struck by a car during a boy-racer event. The driver fled the scene, police said.
Central District Commander Superintendent Dion Bennett told RNZ on Monday the officer was in a stable condition but still on a ventilator. The man from the other incident also remained in ICU on a ventilator.
Bennett said he felt despair when thinking about the incidents.
"I stood at the bedside of our officer yesterday with his family and as we watched and listened to the machines whirring and you stand there and think 'what an absolute waste'. This could be avoided.
"The behaviour of the drivers in both incidents is not acceptable and this is a tragic event for the two families involved but also for all of Manawatū."
He said staff are "getting on with business and acting professional" while they wait for updates on the injured officer.
"There is a sadness that hangs over his team and our wider team as we wait for some positive news about how he's doing and whether his recovery is going to be successful."
The people in the vehicle that allegedly struck the officer were aged 14 and 15, and are facing a "raft of charges", Bennett said.
The officer was laying road spikes near Palmerston North when the vehicle, allegedly stolen and carrying two teens, struck him and another officer. (Source: 1News)
The alleged driver faces charges of theft, failing to stop, dangerous driving and reckless driving causing injury. The second teenager has been charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.
Both are due to appear in the Palmerston North Youth Court on August 27.
Police want to hear from anyone with information about the other incident in Feilding.
Bennett said separate inquiries were being carried out to determine if the two incidents were connected, though it didn't appear they were as one involved a stolen car and the other involved "criminal anti-social road users".
He told RNZ the region had a history of "serious and violent interactions with boy racers, and that's not a challenge that we're backing away from".
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