On 26 July 2021, the man was seen in a car which stopped at a house in Palmerston North. Because the man was known to have access to firearms, the Armed Offenders Squad was tasked with approaching the house to arrest him. During the operation, the man managed to evade officers, escaping into the neighbourhood.
Two officers located the man and used a sponge round launcher and a Glock pistol in attempts to stop him. The man was hit by the second sponge round fired, but this had little effect, with the man continuing to run from Police before being caught and arrested a short time later.
During the operation, Police also detained and searched three people from the house and a woman from a car parked at the house.
The Authority found that the two officers who used force against the man were justified in doing so under the Crimes Act 1961. They also found that Police had the power to detain and search all four people under the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.
