A stolen vehicle whose driver failed to stop for police, and fled, crashed soon after into a stationary car at an intersection in South Auckland today.
A boy aged 12 who was in the fleeing vehicle was taken to hospital in a critical condition. The police said his condition was not a result of the crash.
His condition was later said to be serious.
Police officers had tried to stop the stolen vehicle at about 8am.
The vehicle was being driven in a manner that raised suspicions, said Senior Sergeant Peter Marriott, of the Counties Manukau police.
Officers believed it might have been linked to a series of burglaries overnight in the Counties Manukau area.
Police followed the vehicle, which contained five people, for around 10 minutes.
It collided with a stationary car that was waiting in heavy peak-hour traffic at the intersection of Redoubt Rd and Goodwood Drive, Manukau. No one was injured.
The people in the fleeing vehicle were aged between 12 and 17.
A 16-year-old girl has been charged with unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, aggravated failing to stop, and reckless driving.
Two 17-year-old females have been charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle.
The boy and a 13-year-old girl have been referred to youth aid.