Social media posts of ‘clown mask’ driver on popular beach lead to Head Hunter's arrest (2024)

Social media posts of someone in a clown mask behind the wheel of an expensive Mercedes-Benz on a popular Auckland beach led to a specialist anti-gang squad arresting a patched Head Hunter for driving offences.

But the gang member has labelled the investigation a “waste of time” and predicts the charges will be thrown out of court.

Videos uploaded to Instagram in April show a Mercedes-Benz G Wagon and an all-terrain vehicle driving at speed on Muriwai Beach, with the driver wearing a clown mask.

Both vehicles were impounded earlier this week, with police announcing a 38-year-old Head Hunter had been charged with driving while disqualified and operating a vehicle causing “sustained loss of traction”.

Another eight motorcycles were confiscated from his motorcycle shop in West Auckland, some belonging to fellow Head Hunters, because of unpaid fines and other driving offences.

The additional seizures were described as the “icing on the cake” by police, following the investigation into alleged dangerous driving on the beach.

The police raids on Tuesday were to hold the gang member accountable for his “shocking driving behaviour”, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Williams said in a statement.

But the Head Hunter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has taken to social media to hit back at the police raids - and claim that he wasn’t behind the wheel of the vehicles on Muriwai beach.

Posts on one of his Instagram accounts, which has 65,000 followers, regularly feature a clown-mask-wearing character called “Uncle Ling Ling”.

After the police raids on Tuesday, the Head Hunter posted images of the search warrant and posted them online with his response.

The warrant contained several screenshots of “Uncle Ling Ling” driving the vehicles on Muriwai Beach, which had previously been posted on Instagram and form the basis of the prosecution case.

He said the videos of the clown character driving on the beach was “a joke”.

“My mate was wearing a mask, and an affidavit will be provided under oath but we won’t need to go that far LOL..you have no face to your case,” the Head Hunter posted to Instagram.

“Take my bikes, take my cars and still I laugh at your stupidity of trying to disrupt a man doing his will for his children.

“My patch does not define me…Let’s see how the judge reacts to your paperweight, aye losers. Here’s some more evidence for y’all to ponder on ya idiots.”

In another video posted online, the Head Hunter dismissed the raids as a “waste of time”.

“You guys think you are winning. You impound my car, impound the Can-Am [all terrain vehicle]. All good brothers, we’ll just get them back,”

“The c***s are just trying to run me into the ground…All that to see me in court, for me to plead not guilty and probably have my charges dropped, dismissed for lack of evidence.”

The Head Hunter also blamed Operation Cobalt, the nationwide police strategy launched in 2022 to target gang members, for his current predicament.

The Head Hunter often films his numerous interactions with police officers and posts the videos online.

He even has a tattoo of a skull-headed gang member riding a motorcycle over an Operation Cobalt detective, according to an earlier post on Instagram, and in other posts refers to other police officers in offensive terms.

The Herald understands that the social media trolling of individual police officers caught the attention of Operation Cobalt investigators.

Targeting gang members with traffic offences is a deliberate tactic by the specialist anti-gang squad in Auckland.

Tens of thousands of infringement notices have been issued under the Land Transport Safety Act since Operation Cobalt was launched.

“Infringement notices are anything from speeding tickets, which can be dished out on the side of the road, through to more serious offending which can lead to a court summons; driving while disqualified or sustained loss of traction,” said Detective Superintendent Dave Lynch, in a previous interview.

“They can also give police the ability to impound vehicles for up to 28 days, so we’ve found the LTSA to be one of the best methods to disrupt gang activity.”

Jared Savage is an award-winning journalist who covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006, and is the author of Gangland and Gangster’s Paradise.