Police pursuit includes 18km stint on beach in Northland

Police followed the vehicle onto Baylys Beach where it went south for 18km and exited at Glinks Gully. Photo/ File

A fleeing driver in a stolen vehicle drove more than 150km, including an 18km stint along a Northland beach, before ditching the four-wheel drive and trying to out run a police dog and handler through sand dunes.

But after 1 hour and 40 minutes the chase was up and a man was tracked down by the police dog near Glinks Gully 24km south of Dargaville.

A police spokesperson said officers patrolling State Highway 1 in Waitematā district signalled for the Nissan Safari to stop near Te Hana about 12.06pm on Tuesday.

The vehicle failed to stop and allegedly fled police and continued north.

It was then Northland police staff started following the driver who avoided a number of road spikes laid by police on SH12 on the way to Dargaville.

Police followed the vehicle onto Baylys Beach where it went south for 18km and exited at Glinks Gully.

There were a number of people fishing on the beach at low tide at the time.

The pursuit continued to weave through dusty gravel roads until eventually heading on to private land where the vehicle was abandoned in a farmer's paddock.

One occupant was taken into police custody immediately while the driver fled on foot.

A police dog unit were quick on the trail of the fleeing man and successfully tracked him to nearby sand dunes where he was arrested.

The duo were being interviewed by police before charges were laid.

Meanwhile, police are continuing to investigate what caused a crash involving a stock truck and a ute which closed SH1 for more than three hours on Monday.

The crash happened just outside the BP service station at Whakapara about 4.40pm.

The fully loaded stock truck and trailer was travelling north as was the ute involved.

A second stock truck was called to remove the cattle and a Northpower team worked to repair a damaged "stud pole" that supported a guy rope leading to power lines on the other side of the road.

The crash meant power was cut to 1030 customers for about 13 minutes in the Whakapara and Helena Bay areas.

Two people suffered serious injuries while a third person had moderate injuries. Traffic diversions were put place as traffic started to build up.