A baby boy is lying seriously ill in Starship after the car he was in crashed during a police chase.
The five-month-old was in the rear of a silver car which rolled onto its roof after the the driver lost control on State Highway 16, near Kumeu, just before 11am yesterday. A witness described skid marks 200m long at the crash scene.
The baby was flown by Westpac Rescue Helicopter to Starship children's hospital and a hospital spokeswoman said he was in a stable condition.
Police confirmed the male driver of the car, who has been arrested and is under police guard in Auckland Hospital, was fleeing police when the crash occurred outside Cooper's Creek Vineyard. He has moderate injuries, and a woman sitting in the front seat was also taken to Auckland Hospital with moderate to minor injuries.
Police say they had no idea there was a 5-month-old baby in the car that crashed while they were pursuing it.