Whangarei police officers today were left shaken after a man driving a stolen car deliberately rammed their patrol car several times before fleeing.
Police are now hunting for the driver and the car, which was also involved in another crash.
The light blue Subaru Impreza, registration FGZ617, was stolen from
Mt Albert in Auckland overnight, police said.
About 5.45am it struck a car coming in the opposite direction while passing a truck on the Brynderwyn Hill, south of Whangarei.
The three occupants of the other car were unhurt and the Subaru did not stop, police said.
Two officers in a police car tried to stop the car as it came into Whangarei, police said.
The driver, the sole occupant, pulled into a service station in Otaika on the southern outskirts of Whangarei, where he backed into the patrol car several times.
The car fled north along State Highway 1 through Whangarei where the driver swerved on to the wrong side of the road in an attempt to escape police.
The driver then again rammed the police car - on both sides - acting senior sergeant John Fagan said.
"He was fairly deliberate in his actions," he told NZPA.
"That was what was so frightening for the cops in the car, who were pretty helpless really."
The driver then fled along SH1 back towards the Maunu Rd intersection.
The two officers were unhurt but shaken by their ordeal.
The behaviour of the driver "was very concerning to police as he has put the public and the two police officers in extreme danger and it is very fortunate that no one was injured or killed as a result of this recklessness," Mr Fagan said.
Police expected the car to have been dumped somewhere in the Whangarei or Northland area.
The driver was described as a Caucasian male.
The car had crash damage to the front wings and its rear.
Police were also seeking information regarding any sightings of the vehicle around the Mt Albert area and north along SH1 in the early hours of this morning.
- NZPA
