By Emily Norman
A boy was lying in a paddock groaning, another was slumped against a tree, and a third was pacing, calling out for his mate.
This was the scene that greeted an Eketahuna resident in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
It was just after 1.30am and the car the three teens were travelling in had crashed through a fence and into a group of willow trees on Alfredton Rd.
But it wasn’t a coincidence the Eketahuna resident had stumbled upon the scene.
Minutes before, the teens had tried to steal his quad bike, he said.
“It was just after 1am and we heard the bike start – we thought it was a bit late for someone to be out doing farm work,” the man said.
He said the teens had tried to get away on the quad, and had even closed the farm gate behind them – “like, we’ll steal your bike, but we’ll make sure we shut the gate”.
He said the teens later ditched the quad on the side of the road and started to flee in a sedan that police said later had been stolen from Masterton.
“We tried to follow them and get the licence plate,” the man said.
“But they were going too fast for the corner and we lost sight of them.
“When I got to the corner I thought, that’s their bloody lights in the paddock.”
He said the car looked like it had rolled as the headlights were “facing upward”.
“I could see one person lying in the paddock, one person leaning against a tree and the third just walking around, looking for his mates.
He heard the boy in the paddock groaning and instructed the third boy “not to touch him in case he had spinal injuries.”
“He asked me to get an ambulance. I said there’s already one on the way.”
The man’s partner had already called in to the neighbours, who alerted emergency services of the crash.
Eketahuna police were first at the scene, joined by Pahiatua police and two ambulances.
The neighbours said they already knew “something was wrong” before they were told what happened.
“We just heard these three thuds.”
“Police were quick to arrive and they were out there all morning.”
Two of the teens were seriously injured and were flown to Wellington Hospital yesterday, one by Westpac’s Life Flight Rescue Helicopter, and the other by Hawke’s Bay Helicopter Rescue Trust.
One was in a critical condition in Wellington’s Intensive Care Unit and the other was stable on the wards.
The teen that was not flown to hospital was being interviewed at the Masterton Police station yesterday, Senior Sergeant Mike Sutton said.
He did not confirm whether charges would be laid, and said the police’s focus was on the wellbeing of the teens and completing the investigation.
Eketahuna Police Constable Donna Olliver had only recently written a police report in the town’s monthly newsletter, listing four other burglaries in January which had targeted cars, bikes, and tools.
“I grew up on farms, I understand how the bike is left at the back door, the keys left in the ute, lock off the petrol tank and the house unlocked whilst you’re milking,” she wrote.
“Everything can be fine, until that one time we don’t get away with it.
“We need to make it as difficult as possible for these thieves, and often it’s something that only takes a few seconds.
“Try and get into the habit of putting valuables away, locking houses, vehicles and sheds.”
