Car chase ends with three injured

7.30am

Albany couple Des and Adele thought the loud bang that woke them this morning was a clap of thunder.

It was a car hitting their roof and lounge.

The accident, which left the three occupants of the car seriously ill in Auckland Hospital and destroyed the front of Des and Adele's house, happened at 3.30am in the North Shore suburb.

The crash ended a chain of event which started when police stopped a vehicle in Takapuna.

As police officers tried to question the driver and his two passengers, the car sped off towards Albany.

With the police in pursuit, the vehicle reached speeds of up to 100km/h in a 70km/h zone.

On the Albany Highway the car hit a roundabout and the driver lost control.

The car spun about 100m down the road, skidding across a grass verge, smashing into the brick wall outside Des and Adele's house and crashing into the roof of the 4-year-old brick house.

The car eventually landed on its side, with part of it protruding into the lounge.

The front of the lounge was severely damaged. Windows were smashed and the wall was damaged.

It took about half an hour for emergency service to cut free the car occupants, two men and a woman.

One man was described as being in "a very critical condition and causing concern", and the other two were stable.

Police say the pursuit was justified.

Superintendent Dick Trimble said the police were about 100m behind the car during the chase, it was not a fast pursuit, and the crash was in a wide, open section of road.

The case has been referred to the Police Complaints Authority for further examination. The police serious crash unit is also investigating.