Christchurch Police forced to abandon another pursuit of stolen vehicle

The pursuit lasted less than 10 minutes. Photo / File

Christchurch police were forced to abandon another pursuit after the fleeing vehicle reached high speeds throughout residential suburbs.

Last night, a police spokeswoman said the pursuit began at around 10.45pm last night but in less than 10 minutes had been abandoned.

The chase started in Linwood after a car, believed to have been stolen, failed to stop for police and sped away, the spokeswoman said.

Police remained in the Linwood area following the abandonment in an attempt to locate the vehicle again.

Midway through last month, three Christchurch teenagers died in a "ball of fire" after a police pursuit during rainy conditions.

Two brothers died in the incident, 16-year-old Glen Mcallister and his 13-year-old brother Craig. Brooklyn Taylor, 13, was also killed.

The trio died after the stolen Mazda Familia they were speeding away from police in hit road spikes, crashed into a tree then burst into flames off Blenheim Rd.

Earlier, the vehicle was recorded travelling in excess of 130km/h through the Christchurch CBD when the pursuit - which only lasted one minute - first started.

The fatal crash following a police pursuit was the third in Christchurch in less than two months at the time of the incident.

Alexia Noble-Hazelwood, 18, was killed when the car she was in smashed into a school building on Gloucester St, late on November 16, a Friday night.

The car had earlier been involved in a police pursuit which was abandoned just minutes before the crash.

In the early hours of Wednesday, December 5, driver Dennis Tunnicliffe, 25, and passenger Renee Percy, 35, a pregnant Christchurch mother, were killed after Tunnicliffe sped away from police before crashing into a power pole on Breezes Rd.

Police followed the car after Tunnicliffe fled but abandoned the chase after less than a minute due to the "dangerous nature of the driving".