Thermal imaging camera finds man hiding in River

A thermal imaging camera helped Hamilton police find a fleeing, hypothermic driver hiding in the Waikato River.

The drama began shortly before midnight when a driver sped away from police. The driver refused to stop and instead fled down Clarkin Rd at a speed of well over 100km/h before officers lost sight of the car.  Searching police patrols noticed wheel marks on the grass near an intersection, and the car was found upside down in an area flooded by overflow from the river

A 19-year-old woman was found floating in the water and a 41-year-old gang member wanted on a warrant was found hiding beneath her. Two hours later with the aid of a thermal camera provided by fire-fighters, a 29-year-old man was located hiding in the river clinging to the bank after fleeing from the crash scene. He's been treated in Waikato Hospital for hypothermia and Police believe the man was driving the car and was also wanted on a warrant.

Senior Sergeant Andrew O'Reilly, said “The thermal camera made all the difference, we had a Police Dog at the scene which kept trying to jump into the river and we thought it was being distracted by activity by the car upstream but the heat signature provided by the camera showed the dog was right and was trying to get into the water to get to the offender."

The crashed rental car was recovered from the water overnight and will be the subject of forensic analysis later today.

Thermal imaging technology is available from e2v, who has a 30 year heritage in the industry. Further information on the Argus handheld thermal imaging camera from e2v can be found by visiting www.argusdirect.com/security.