Vernon Taylor told the Herald he was travelling along Hobson St when he saw the man attach himself to the vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
New footage has captured the man falling off the Corrections van after turning left from Hobson St onto Pitt St. Photo \/ Vernon Taylor<\/p>\n
The new angle shows the Corrections van making a left turn, where, upon mounting a speed bump crossing, he loses hold.<\/p>\n
The bearded hitchhiker then drops to the ground, landing awkwardly on a corner before rolling forward with his momentum.<\/p>\n
He can be seen collecting himself, calmly standing and returning to the footpath while motorists wait for him to move aside.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, my first thought was that it felt symbolic,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say the average Roman never woke up to hear the empire had fallen, they just noticed their roads stopped being maintained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching someone cling to the back of a Corrections truck down a main city street felt like one of those quiet signs that something isn\u2019t quite right.\u201d<\/p>\n
When approached by the Herald earlier this week, police said the incident hadn\u2019t been reported to them.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn said prisoner escort services in Auckland are operated by a contractor, which would now report the incident to police.<\/p>\n
\u201cCorrections 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n