Pursuit ends with traffic jam on Auckland motorway

By LOUISA CLEAVE and JULIET ROWAN

A 45-minute police pursuit of a four-wheel-drive vehicle in rush hour yesterday ended when it crashed and flipped on the Northwestern Motorway.

The male driver and a woman from the Nissan were taken by ambulance to Auckland City Hospital with cuts caused by broken glass.

Another man in the vehicle escaped injury.

Lanes were closed while the police serious crash unit investigated.

Police spokeswoman Andi Devlin said the crash involved the 4WD, a police car and an "innocent" car, which was damaged.

Traffic heading west from the city was reduced to a crawl.

The drama began at 4.45pm in Mt Roskill when the Nissan failed to stop for a minor traffic violation.

The police northern communications centre told officers that the vehicle was linked to a possible abduction.

Police had received reports of the driver assaulting the male passenger.

Up to five police cars and the Eagle helicopter joined the pursuit, which wound through Mt Roskill, Balmoral and Avondale.

A witness walking along St Lukes Rd said she saw the black Nissan being pursued by four or five police cars. Officers were calling for the vehicle to "pull over, pull over" on a loudspeaker.

Senior Sergeant Ross Endicott-Davies said it ran red lights and drove on the wrong side of the road.

It crashed on the motorway north of the Carrington Rd overbridge.

Ms Devlin said early indications suggested that the Nissan swerved into the police car from the right.

"It went up on the side of the police car and flipped."

Tyre marks were left on the police car, but it was not extensively damaged.

Ms Devlin said the pursuit was "very slow" - reaching a top speed of 68 km/h - because the traffic was heavy.

She did not know the relationship between the three people in the Nissan.

The driver was wanted by police for offences which they would not reveal. He was charged with a number of driving-related offences after yesterday's pursuit.

Ms Devlin said the passengers were in the car of their own volition.

The Nissan is registered to a man in Glen Eden and had been reported stolen.

The owner could not be contacted last night but his son said his sister had used the car yesterday.

He said his father was at a funeral.

Ms Devlin said the accident had not been referred to the Police Complaints Authority because there were no serious injuries, but the authority would be notified.

It is the second time in a week that lanes of the Northwestern Motorway have been closed during afternoon rush-hour.

On November 3, police shut both sides of the motorway for several hours after Lapana Seve walked into traffic on the westbound lanes and was fatally injured.

Yesterday's incident was the third serious police pursuit in four days.

Cameron Hyland died on Saturday after his car rolled while being pursued by police in West Auckland and on Sunday night police chased a truck for more than an hour.