A man has been arrested in Waikato after crashing into two innocent drivers while allegedly trying to flee from police.
Officers were responding to reports of dangerous driving in Huntly when the incident kicked off shortly after 11am Tuesday.
Police spotted the vehicle travelling towards Hamilton on the Waikato Expressway before losing sight of it.
At around 12pm, reports from the public led police to Pine Ave in Hamilton, and then State Highway 3 at Ōhaupō five minutes later.
“Officers have monitored the car for several minutes and then signalled the driver to stop. He’s continued driving, so other units laid road spikes further down State Highway 3,” Inspector Hywel Jones said.
“In an attempt to avoid the spikes, the fleeing driver nearly collided with a member of the public’s vehicle.”
A pursuit was authorised around 12.10am. This didn’t last long, as less than a minute later, the driver crashed into two vehicles being driven by members of the public.
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“Thankfully, neither of those innocent drivers was injured, and somehow the alleged driver of the fleeing vehicle was also unharmed,” Jones said.
The fleeing driver attempted to escape on foot, but was tracked by a police dog and arrested at 12.15am.
A 19-year-old was charged with failing to stop for police, unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, and failing to stop or ascertain injury. He would appear at the Hamilton District Court on June 27.
SH3 at the intersection with West Road was closed for several hours while a scene examination was carried out, but has since reopened.
Jones praised members of the public for calling 111 to report the dangerous driving.
“Those calls were critical for us and helped us locate the alleged driver and ultimately arrest him,” he said.
“It’s only down to luck that we aren’t dealing with a death as a result of this driving, and a large part of that has been down to fast-thinking people picking up the phone.”