A Whanganui supermarket worker was pepper-sprayed while being arrested by two police officers who wrongly believed he was someone else.
Police have apologised to the man after an investigation overseen by the Independent Police Conduct Authority identified several mistakes by all staff during the chaotic arrest.
An authority report detailed how the incident unfolded as officers and a police dog searched for a man seen unlawfully on a nearby property.
Described as wearing "all dark clothing and a hooded top", a police watchhouse staffer spotted someone matching the suspect's description heading to the supermarket from the street at the centre of their search.
Two officers near the supermarket saw a man they believed matched the description and tried to speak with him.
"He indicated he did not wish to talk to them and that he was on his way to work and kept walking," the authority's summary said.
Over the radio, a sergeant instructed the officers to arrest the man if he fitted the suspect's description.
The officers followed the worker into the supermarket and the more senior officer instructed the other to detain him. Her colleague followed him into the store while she stayed outside and spoke to another officer who arrived to help.
Inside the supermarket, the man continued walking away from the officer.
A struggle ensued after the officer grabbed the man's umbrella and tried to take it. Another officer approached the man and told him he was under arrest.
"The man refused to let go of a desk to be restrained and handcuffed, so the assisting officer used pepper spray on him."
As he was being arrested, the officers' assumptions about his lack of cooperation were "called into question" when they received new information from another supermarket worker.
Soon after the arrest, police viewed security camera footage of the suspect and realised he was wearing different clothes from the man they had just arrested.
The pepper-sprayed supermarket worker was released.
"The police investigation identified mistakes made by all staff involved and several areas for learning, which were addressed. Police apologised to the man arrested," the IPCA said.
"The authority agreed with the outcome of the investigation."
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