• A Tauranga motorist claims he was chased by a knife-wielding driver in a road-rage incident.
• Other locals say they have had confrontations with a person in a similar vehicle.
• Police urge anyone with information to contact them, referencing file 250520/5191.

“I was in survival mode,” says a Tauranga motorist who claims he was chased and confronted by a knife-wielding driver in an alleged “road-rage” incident caught on dashcam.

The man, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, is speaking out to warn the community after the Tuesday incident in Welcome Bay.

He said he first noticed a white ute travelling behind him on Welcome Bay Rd not long after leaving home about 12.30pm to go mountain biking in Rotorua.

He claimed that just before the 80km/h speed zone, “the other driver sped up and drove dangerously close to my vehicle … He was only about one car length behind me”.

He alleged the following driver was “acting aggressively and driving erratically”, and crossing the centre line.

“He then dangerously cut in front of me, slammed on the brakes and slowed right down to walking speed.”

He said at one point the driver stuck his arm out of his window, seemingly to give him “the finger”.

“But I then saw he was brandishing a 30cm, bladed boning knife in his right hand towards me,” he claimed.

He said he pulled over at the Asher Rd and Welcome Bay Rd intersection to decide what to do.

“I was sitting there assessing the situation, and saw the ute driver stop and fling open the driver’s door.

“He started stomping aggressively towards me, brandishing the knife.”

Concerned the man intended to cause him “serious harm”, he turned around, drove home and called 111. He said the operator told him police were too busy to attend immediately.

He said he had wondered since if the incident was an attempt to steal his mountain bike worth $10,000-$12,000, which was on his bike rack.

“I don’t really know what the man’s intentions were or what triggered this because I didn’t do anything to provoke such extreme, aggressive behaviour. But I didn’t wait around to find out.

“I wasn’t fearful as such at the time. But I was definitely in survival mode.”

He described the alleged offender as heavily built, possibly in his late 40s, of Māori or Pacific Island descent and wearing red shorts and a black hoodie.

He said he and his wife were speaking out to warn others and urged anyone with any information to come forward to the police, who had been provided with the dashcam footage.

The man’s wife said it appeared her husband was not alone in being confronted by this person.

Others in a local social media group had shared similar stories of incidents involving a man and vehicle fitting the same description.

“We would hate to learn that someone was actually harmed or robbed by this person.”

A police spokeswoman confirmed an online complaint was received on Tuesday and police were investigating.

“There have been no reported fresh sightings of the ute.”

The Bay of Plenty Times asked the police whether there had been any other complaints about similar incidents of this nature in the Welcome Bay area in recent months.

“Police cannot disclose information while it is an active investigation, however, police would like to hear on 105 from anyone who has information related to this matter,” the spokeswoman said.

“Please use file 250520/5191 as a reference when contacting the police,” she said.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.