{"id":644789,"date":"2026-10-29T11:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/644789\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T11:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T11:46:11","slug":"cliff-curtis-admits-charges-after-crashing-his-tesla-injuring-taxi-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/644789\/","title":{"rendered":"Cliff Curtis admits charges after crashing his Tesla, injuring taxi driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiwi actor Cliff Curtis has pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing his Tesla, leaving a taxi driver seriously injured in central Auckland. <\/p>\n

The 58-year-old admitted causing injury while driving with excess blood alcohol and reckless driving<\/a> during a video appearance in the Auckland District Court this afternoon. <\/p>\n

The charges related to a crash at the intersection of Jellicoe St and Halsey St in Wynyard Quarter<\/a> on September 23. <\/p>\n

Curtis’ Tesla and a taxi were badly damaged in the collision. <\/p>\n

Cliff Curtis pleads guilty over crash that seriously injured taxi driver – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n

Two people were taken to hospital, including the taxi driver, who sustained serious injuries. <\/p>\n

Case transferred to Rotorua<\/p>\n

The 58-year-old actor pleads guilty during a video appearance in the Auckland District Court.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Avatar star was allegedly more than twice the legal alcohol limit when he crashed his Tesla into a taxi on Auckland’s waterfront last month. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Curtis’ lawyer Samuel Moore sought to have the case transferred to Rotorua, where the actor was based. <\/p>\n

Judge Tiffany Cooper KC agreed. <\/p>\n

Moore also asked for Curtis’ existing bail conditions to remain in place, including a condition preventing him from contacting the victim. <\/p>\n

Charging documents seen by 1News stated Curtis had a blood alcohol reading of 122mg per 100ml of blood. The criminal limit for adult drivers is 80mg per 100ml. <\/p>\n

At an earlier hearing, police upgraded the drink-driving charge<\/a>, which carried a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $20,000. <\/p>\n

Curtis did not appear at the previous hearing after being excused on medical grounds<\/a>. <\/p>\n

‘I made a devastating mistake’<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Cliff Curtis attends the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards at Hollywood Palladium on February 15, 2026 (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

In a statement released at the time, Curtis said he continued to recover at home from internal injuries. <\/p>\n

“I made a devastating mistake, and I’ll have to live with the consequences and do what I can to address the harm caused. <\/p>\n

“I am deeply sorry. My thoughts are with the injured taxi driver and his family.” <\/p>\n

Curtis was remanded on bail for sentencing in February \u2013 with the possibility of an earlier date if one became available. <\/p>\n

Judge Cooper also made an application for restorative justice so the actor could meet with the victim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi actor Cliff Curtis has pleaded guilty to drink-driving after crashing his Tesla, leaving a taxi driver seriously…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,409,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-644789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644789","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=644789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}