Three women and baby taken to hospital after car-chase crash

A vehicle was hit by a fleeing car involved in a police pursuit at the intersection of Napier-Hastings expressway and Omahu Rd yesterday. Photo/Duncan Brown

Three women and a baby were taken to hospital after their vehicle was hit during a police pursuit in Hastings yesterday afternoon.

The collision happened at the roundabout on the intersection of Napier-Hastings expressway and Omahu Rd in Hastings at 4.15pm.

Sergeant Cameron Donnison, of Hawke's Bay road policing, said police tried to stop a vehicle near Dundee Dr in Flaxmere about 4pm and chased it when the driver failed to stop.

Shortly afterwards the fleeing vehicle sideswiped another at the Omahu Rd roundabout.

Three adults and a baby in the vehicle were taken to hospital as a precaution but nobody was seriously injured, Donnison said.

The offending vehicle continued and the pursuit was abandoned after less than 10 minutes.

Two vehicles who appeared to be looking at the crash at the roundabout also crashed, Donnison said.

A 37-year-old man was later arrested and the vehicle found in Flaxmere.

The man is yet to be charged.

"Police would like to thank the members of the public who reported a suspicious vehicle in their area which led to police finding the offending vehicle and driver at an address," Donnison said.

Takapau resident Dave Smith, who was involved in the secondary crash, said he was travelling south along the expressway when he had to stop because traffic had piled up.

"All the traffic had stopped because there were sirens."

He had just started moving again over the roundabout when he had a minor crash with another car.

A male passenger and a young boy in his car, as well as those in the other car, were uninjured.

A Hawke's Bay Hospital spokeswoman said the three women admitted to the hospital - two aged in their late 30s and one in her late 20s - had been discharged.

The baby was still in hospital in a stable condition.

The police serious crash unit will be investigating.