A police officer was uninjured when his car was deliberately rammed by the driver of a stolen van in Kaikohe.
The incident happened yesterday afternoon when a sole officer went to an address where police knew the stolen vehicle was parked.
The driver of the van drove into the police car and sped off.
The police had known of the vehicle's whereabouts and were able to track it after the ramming incident through a GPS on board the work van.
The Advocate does not know if police expected the person who stole the van to be in it or at the address.
Senior Sergeant Darren Sullivan, from Whangarei Police, said the van was found again a short while later, abandoned at a nearby location.
He said the police were confident they knew who the offender was and expected to apprehend him fairly quickly.
The search was continuing at edition time last night.