"The officer had lost sight of the car by the time he had turned around."
A few minutes later, the police received a report of a crash on the corner of Bellevue Rd and Windsor Rds and the officer found the stolen car had crashed into a tree.
The occupants were two 14-year-old girls.
The driver is in a critical condition and is in Starship Hospital.
The passenger is in a stable condition at Tauranga Hospital with serious injuries.
The Serious Crash Unit is investigating.
A Tauranga Hospital spokesman confirmed to the Bay of Plenty Times that one of the girls, who was in a critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit, was transferred to Starship Hospital this morning.