Pōkeno crash, State Highway 2 closed: Man in stolen car crashes into innocent driver while fleeing police

State Highway 2 has been closed between Avon and Koheroa Rds at Pōkeno. Photo / Bevan Conley.

• State Highway 2 at Pōkeno is closed after a crash.
• A man in a stolen car hit a member of the public while swerving into oncoming traffic trying to dodge police road spikes.
• The crash ended an incident which began on Dominion Rd, stretched through Auckland and into the Waikato.

A man in a stolen car crashed into an innocent driver, leaving them fighting for their life, while fleeing police across Auckland and the Waikato this afternoon.

The man was trying to dodge police road spikes when he swerved directly into oncoming traffic and hit the other car on State Highway 2 in Pōkeno.

The highway has been closed between Avon and Koheroa Rds.

The man in the stolen car, also critically injured in the crash, began when he was spotted on traffic cameras on Dominion Rd about 1.20pm.

When police tried getting him to pull over, he sped away on the wrong side of the road.

Police decided not to pursue, a spokesman said. The police Eagle helicopter tracked the driver’s movements through central Auckland suburbia and on to the Southern Motorway.

The driver sped south down the motorway and then on to State Highway 2.

Police threw road spikes down on the highway twice, successfully dodging them the first time, and crashing into a member of the public when dodging the next attempt about 3pm.

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