Andrew Dykstra's Suppression Lapses After Police Car Ramming and Rampage in Auckland and Taupō

A 19-year-old man, Andrew Dykstra, has lost his bid for permanent name suppression after a series of alarming incidents in Auckland and Taupō, including intentionally ramming a police car and endangering pedestrians.

Andrew Dykstra, now 20, was arrested in February 2024 for a second time in as many months. The Te Atatū resident had just been released from jail after failing to appear at a Taupō District Court hearing for an earlier rampage when he drove into Auckland’s City Centre and seemed to lose control again.

A bystander captured footage of Dykstra dangerously ramming a patrol vehicle as one officer stood by the driver’s side door and another had the passenger door open, about to get out. The teen then sped off but was taken into custody shortly after, his escape thwarted by city centre gridlock.

Dykstra was sentenced in March to 18 months of intensive supervision for nine charges stemming from the incidents in Auckland and Waikato. However, Auckland District Court Judge Kate Davenport delayed a decision on his request for permanent suppression, citing the need for another psychological report. At a follow-up hearing in April, she denied the suppression application but allowed Dykstra’s name to remain secret for two more months to consider an appeal. The deadline for appeal has now passed.

‘I’ll kill you’

Dykstra’s first run-in with police occurred on January 2 last year in Kuratau, a small Waikato community on the western edge of Lake Taupō. Court documents do not specify what triggered the outburst, which the judge described as “a truly frightening experience” for the community. However, she noted that the defendant can fixate on issues when there is a perceived mistreatment.

His autism and ADHD diagnoses, combined with his parents’ failure to set boundaries, were cited as contributing factors to the offending. On that day, Dykstra angrily approached the residents of a Kuratau property, but his father tried to prevent the confrontation by standing in his way. “The defendant became enraged and pushed his father before grabbing a branch from a nearby tree,” the agreed summary of facts for the case states. “[He] has struck his father approximately five times with the branch across the middle of his body.”

Andrew Dykstra appears in Auckland District Court for sentencing in March 2025 after ramming a police car and driving on the footpath in the Auckland City Centre. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

He then threatened to kill another person who was sitting in a nearby vehicle, making a throat-slashing gesture, before hitting the vehicle with the same branch. He ran to another nearby property, pushing over a fish smoker and grabbing two kayak paddles, which became sharp after he hit the paddles against the ground, on a nearby ute and on a light pole. He didn’t take it well when a bystander asked him not to lean against a ute. “I’ll f***ing kill you,” he yelled, raising the paddles above his head as if about to strike the man. The bystander managed to “disarm him” of one of the paddles, and the defendant moved on to another nearby street—instead taking his anger out on a parked BMW. He jumped on the bonnet and hit it with the remaining paddle before moving onto another property, where he knocked over the outdoor furniture and punched through a trellis. He was eventually tackled to the ground, but only after he dropped a large metal pole that he had begun swinging after finding it in the gutter.

Pedestrians, police in danger

It is also unknown what set off the second rampage, which took place one month and one day after the first. At 2.26 that afternoon, pedestrians crossing the intersection of Customs and Albert St had to jump out of the way of the Jaguar, narrowly avoiding being hit as the defendant ignored a red light. The same thing happened a short time later as he drove at speed through the red light at Customs and Queen St. He then drove on the painted median in the middle of the road before conducting an about-turn at speed and stopping at the lights—still in the median. His father got out of the car and it accelerated again towards Albert St. The dangerous driving continued and police arrived at 2.30pm, signaling him to pull over. He initially complied before reversing into the patrol car, leaving it immobilised.

The constable who was outside the car had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit as the Jaguar reversed and a pedestrian had to dart out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting hit, as it then accelerated forward. Dykstra then sped the wrong way down narrow Fort Lane but was arrested after he got stuck in traffic.

‘Much more stable’

The teen was initially charged with assaulting two officers, but those charges were withdrawn prior to his guilty pleas to nine other charges including wilful damage, speaking threateningly and dangerous driving. As a result, he faced a maximum sentence of three months’ imprisonment instead of three years. All sides agreed a custodial sentence was not necessary given his youth, neurodiversity, remorse and attempts at rehabilitation.

Suppression has lapsed for Andrew Dykstra, who was sentenced in Auckland District Court for ramming a police car and driving on the footpath in the Auckland City Centre. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

“[He] does want to change,” defence lawyer Melanie Collie told the judge, noting that Dykstra was “very much more stable on his medication” than at the time of offending. But the defence’s request for a discharge without conviction would be a step too far, the judge decided, explaining that his psychological setbacks meant he might fully grasp the gravity of the situation if not given a clear message about consequences and boundaries. She expressed optimism that, with the help and guidance from probation, Dykstra could find work and get some much-needed independence from his parents. “I’m sure you’ll do great,” she said.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.