A driver fleeing in a stolen Range Rover has been stopped in his tracks by police spikes and a concrete mixer truck in north-west Auckland.
Police were called to reports of a stolen vehicle near Riverhead shortly after 1pm.
A spokeswoman said police briefly pursued the vehicle but due to the "dangerous manner of driving" and for reasons of public safety they chose not to follow the vehicle any further.
Ground units monitored the vehicle from a distance before the Police Eagle helicopter was called in to track it overhead, she said.
"At one point the vehicle stopped to let its single passenger out before continuing on at speed," she said.
"Spikes were successfully deployed and the vehicle was starting to slow before it was involved in a collision with a truck in Kumeu."
Atlas Concrete group general manager Shane Coutts said they were "pleased that one of our staff was able to assist police" before somebody in the community was hurt.
He declined to comment further at this stage.
A local resident, who did not wish to be named, said she counted at least eight police cars going down Main Rd (State Highway 16) towards the action.
"We saw the police helicopter going in circles, we knew something was going on."
There were marks in the grass were the Range Rover had stopped on Main Rd after colliding with a concrete mixer truck, she said.
"It can't have been hit that hard, it didn't go that far off the road."
Police say there were no reported injuries and that the male driver was swiftly taken into custody.
The female occupant was found at an address in Kumeu a short time later.
Several local residents captured parts of what unfolded on video, including footage that shows the damaged car about to be towed from the scene.
It shows the tyres deflated with the front left wheelsitting on the rim.