File photo. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
A school boy out running with his PE class in Lower Hutt today was bitten by a police dog after he was mistaken for an offender by its handler.
Police said the teenager was given immediate medical attention for a minor leg injury.
Acting Wellington District Commander inspector Wade Jennings said police were working to support the boy and his family "who are understandably upset by this event".
At the time, the dog unit was tracking three youths who had earlier abandoned a stolen car following a brief pursuit, he said.
"Police had signalled the driver to stop in Wainuiomata Road at 11.20am after observing it being driven in a dangerous manner and noting that it was flagged as stolen.
"Officers initially pursued the car but abandoned the pursuit after a short time due to the manner of driving.
"At 11.30am police received a report of three youths running through a residential section and jumping a fence."
Officers found the stolen car nearby and a dog unit started tracking the three youths.
When the dog handler spotted three young people running, he ordered them to stop.
"Two immediately did stop, however, the third ran from the police dog handler, who then released the police dog," Jennings said.
"It became clear once officers spoke to these three young people that they were not the youths being sought in relation to the original fleeing driver incident.
Police have since located the three youths involved in the original fleeing driver incident, and charges were being considered.
Other Wainuiomata High School pupils spoken to by RNZ said students were in shock. One Year 10 student said she was nervous about going back to the firebreak track.
"It's not safe, that's not safe - that'll be scary getting attacked [by] a dog," she said.
"You never know if you could see it again."
The school's gym classes often involved running along the track, she said.
Another girl said she understood the boy was taken to the medical room.
"There's been police all through our school all day now ... most of [the students] were just in shock, like, 'oh my gosh I can't believe that's just happened'."
Acting principal Lea Vellenoweth said the incident was unfortunate, but could not have been avoided and was well-handled by police. The three boys had reached the top of the hill when they were spotted by officers and matched the description of the offenders, she said.
All three boys were "fine and back in class" before 3pm, Vellenoweth said.