Woman jumps into Whangarei river in bid to evade police
From News@63:10/102 to All on Fri Apr 24 14:07:21 2026
By 1News Reporters
1:05pm
A woman jumped into a Whangarei river in an attempt to evade police yesterday afternoon.
Whangarei-Kaipara Area Commander Inspector Maria Nordstrom said around 3.45pm
a woman wanted by police was seen by an off duty officer at Whangarei Aquatic Centre.
They contacted on-duty staff, who came to arrest her.
"It was at this point the woman fled and jumped into the Hatea River in an attempt to avoid being taken into custody," said Nordstrom.
After swimming under a bridge a member of the public on a waka ama boat
tossed her a life jacket.
The woman swam to a moored boat, where she was arrested by police.
Nordstrom said the woman later told police she regretted her decision to jump into the river.
The 44-year-old woman will appear in the Whangarei District Court today over breaching release conditions.