Vernon Taylor told the Herald he was travelling along Hobson St when he saw the man attach himself to the vehicle.
“I first saw he got onto the back of the truck at the Cook St intersection, and held on till he fell off at the Pitt St turn-off,” he said.
New footage has captured the man falling off the Corrections van after turning left from Hobson St onto Pitt St. Photo / Vernon Taylor
The new angle shows the Corrections van making a left turn, where, upon mounting a speed bump crossing, he loses hold.
The bearded hitchhiker then drops to the ground, landing awkwardly on a corner before rolling forward with his momentum.
He can be seen collecting himself, calmly standing and returning to the footpath while motorists wait for him to move aside.
“Honestly, my first thought was that it felt symbolic,” Taylor said.
“They say the average Roman never woke up to hear the empire had fallen, they just noticed their roads stopped being maintained.
“Watching someone cling to the back of a Corrections truck down a main city street felt like one of those quiet signs that something isn’t quite right.”
When approached by the Herald earlier this week, police said the incident hadn’t been reported to them.
Hawthorn said prisoner escort services in Auckland are operated by a contractor, which would now report the incident to police.
“Corrections is concerned any time a member of the public puts themselves in danger, particularly when holding on to a moving vehicle as the outcome could have been worse had they fallen off or been involved in an accident,” she said.
“[The contractors] have spoken with their drivers, who were unaware of this incident at the time but were informed by a member of the public after it had happened yesterday.
“I have asked the contractor to remind their staff about remaining vigilant, particularly when driving through urban areas, and to report any suspicious activity to police immediately.”
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