Police have charged a 46-year-old man over a serious crash that left a 73-year-old grandmother fighting for her life – an accident that ignited a wave of online accusations after the family mistakenly claimed the offending driver was drunk. 

The man faces charges of dangerous driving, driving under the influence of drugs causing injury, possession of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine utensils. He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear in Auckland District Court in April. 

The maximum sentence for driving under the influence of drugs causing injury is up to five years in prison or a $20,000 fine. 

The arrest comes weeks after a social media post titled “SEARCHING FOR THE DRUNK DRIVER THAT CAUSED THIS MESS” appeared on the Checkpoint Watch Auckland Facebook page. The post described the ordeal of a Kiwi-Filipino family whose pre-Christmas airport trip ended in a crash near New Windsor that injured five relatives and left the grandmother in intensive care. 

The Facebook post included a photo of a man holding an object that many viewers claimed was an alcoholic drink, sparking a viral hunt for a supposed drunk driver. 

One of the photos posted to Facebook. Police say alcohol played no part in the crash and would not confirm if the man was the driver of the offending vehicle. Photo / Supplied 

The post, shared more than two weeks after the accident, drew over 500 comments and more than 2000 reactions. 

“On the 19th December 2025, this man, right here, crashed into the red van and is the reason 5 people are in hospital. After the crash, home boy had the AUDACITYYY [sic] to hop out the car with a bottle of SOMETHING in his hand,” the post read. 

The driver was accused of drinking at the accident scene. Photo / Supplied 

Police later confirmed alcohol played no part in the crash but were unable to say at the time whether other intoxicating substances were involved. They also did not confirm whether the man shown in the online photo was the driver of the other vehicle. 

At the time, police issued a statement warning the public that online accusations were “unhelpful” and risked harming innocent individuals. 

Nearly three months on from the crash, police have confirmed charges – including drug impairment – against the driver. 

While the family’s assumption about drink-driving was incorrect, the new charges indicate intoxication was a possible factor in the smash. 

When contacted by the Herald in January, the Filipino driver said the crash was shocking. 

“I felt like I died for like three seconds and then I woke up and was like, ‘Oh, shoot, we crashed and someone hit us’.” 

A 73-year-old woman suffered critical injuries in the accident and was taken to intensive care. Photo / Supplied 

Just before 5am on December 19, the family’s Mazda MPV was heading to the airport for a Christmas trip to the Philippines. In the back sat the 73-year-old grandmother, her husband and their 9-year-old grandson. Her son-in-law was driving, with her son in the front seat. 

At the Maioro St interchange to the Southwestern Motorway, the family say a vehicle struck them on the left side, spinning the Mazda. The grandmother suffered a broken neck, pelvis and ribs, a head injury and a torn aorta. 

The rest of the family members were bruised and shaken. 

Their third-party-insured car was written off. 

Checkpoint Watch Auckland is a page dedicated to alerting followers to police checkpoint locations, including alcohol and impairment stops. Some commenters noted the irony of using the page to hunt an allegedly impaired driver. 

In January, the page’s creator told the Herald – on condition of anonymity – that the family had contacted them asking for help. 

The Herald has reached out to the family but has not yet received a response. 

Mike Scott is an award-winning visual journalist with more than two decades of experience telling stories across multiple media platforms.