{"id":631465,"date":"2026-10-15T14:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T14:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/631465\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T14:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T14:50:17","slug":"cliff-curtis-facing-upgraded-charge-over-auckland-waterfront-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/631465\/","title":{"rendered":"Cliff Curtis facing upgraded charge over Auckland waterfront crash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  [&amp;_p]:tit-sub-xl tit-sub-xl md:[&amp;_p]:d-tit-sub-xl md:d-tit-sub-xl mb-[1.3rem]\">Police allege Kiwi actor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/10\/14\/deeply-sorry-cliff-curtis-excused-from-court-appearance-over-crash\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cliff Curtis<\/a> was well over the legal alcohol limit before a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/10\/01\/kiwi-actor-cliff-curtis-seriously-injured-in-auckland-crash\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">downtown Auckland crash<\/a> that seriously injured a taxi driver. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Curtis, known for his roles in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2018\/08\/07\/cliff-curtis-im-in-hollywood-and-they-want-me-to-be-a-maori-it-doesnt-get-better-than-that-for-me\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Once Were Warriors<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2022\/12\/08\/avatar-sequel-puts-nz-front-and-centre-on-global-film-stage\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Avatar<\/a>, is also facing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2026\/10\/06\/actor-cliff-curtis-charged-with-reckless-driving-after-auckland-crash\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">an upgraded charge<\/a> of causing injury while driving with excess blood alcohol. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The actor was excused from his first appearance at the Auckland District Court today on medical grounds. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The 58-year-old is also accused of reckless driving. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The upgraded drink-driving charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Police asked for bail conditions to be imposed including not contacting the taxi driver or driving. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Lawyer Samual Moore, who was representing Curtis, said his client could not travel to Auckland to sign bail documents and he had concerns about his health.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">The charges relate to a crash at the intersection of Jellicoe St and Halsey St in Wynyard Quarter on September 23. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Curtis&#8217; Tesla and a taxi were badly damaged in the collision. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Two people were taken to hospital, including the taxi driver, who suffered serious injuries. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Charging documents seen by 1News allege Curtis had a blood alcohol reading of 122mg per 100ml of blood. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">For adult drivers (aged 20 and over) a blood alcohol reading between 51 and 80 milligrams per 100ml of blood results in an infringement offence, while a reading above 80 milligrams results in criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">In a statement released last night, the actor said he continues to recover at home from internal injuries. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;I made a devastating mistake, and I&#8217;ll have to live with the consequences and do what I can to address the harm caused. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">&#8220;I am deeply sorry. My thoughts are with the injured taxi driver and his family,&#8221; Curtis said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"body-paragraph articleLinkText  lg mb-4\">Curtis will appear in court later this month. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police allege Kiwi actor Cliff Curtis was well over the legal alcohol limit before a downtown Auckland crash&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[67,156,409,111,139,69,417],"class_list":["post-631465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-television"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}