A motorist held up by a knife-wielding robber was trapped inside his vehicle as the offender led police on a high-speed pursuit through the Waikato to Auckland yesterday.
The chase began when officers were told of the hold-up around 3pm.
The 29-year-old victim was still inside the car as police
pursued it, sometimes at high speed, for 40km, from Mangatawhiri, through Bombay, Ramarama and on to the Southern Motorway heading towards Papakura.
A police helicopter also followed the chase, which went on for about 20 minutes.
"The vehicle eventually stopped in McRobbie Rd, Kingseat, and one person was taken into custody," a police spokesman said.
"No one was injured during the incident [and] a knife has been recovered from the vehicle."
A McRobbie Rd resident said she was at a local shop around 3.30pm when she heard cars "screaming" down the road.
"There were at least five marked police cars and a plain [police] car and a helicopter, so we knew it was something major going on," said the resident, who did not want to be named.
"They were just going really fast down the road. I've never seen that many cars screaming past our shop before."
On her return home about 10 minutes later, she saw police cars surrounding a vehicle parked up against a kerb at the top of the street.
"It was a white, Subaru-type, with blacked-out windows. But I didn't see any people in it by then," she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Barry of Counties Manukau said the robber and his victim did not know each other.
Asked if the robber had been a hitch-hiker, Mr Barry said he could not reveal how he came to be in the car.
A man is due to appear in the Manukau District Court today.
