Thieves ram cops then speed away

Thieves evaded police for more than 20km across Auckland in a high-speed early morning pursuit.

Police were originally called to a burglary in Sylvan Ave, in Northcote on Auckland's North Shore, at around 7.30am.

When police arrived, a middle-aged Caucasian man and an accomplice were loading items stolen from the house into a ute.

Just days earlier the armed offenders squad had busted a P-lab on the same quiet street.

The burglars fled in the ute, similar to a Toyota Hilux or Mitsubishi L200/Triton, and rammed the police car three times.

The pursuit led to Henderson, West Auckland, where a witness said she saw at least 10 police cars speeding past with lights and sirens blazing.

The vehicle, which had a false number plate, continued down Lincoln Rd, where police laid spikes across the lane. The driver swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid striking the spikes, then collided with another car.

No one was hurt in the crash but police deemed it too dangerous to continue. Neither the men, nor the ute, had been located last night.

Police were hopeful someone would come forward with information on the "distinctive" ute.

"It is a four-door, double-cab ute coloured white, similar to a Toyota Hilux or Mitsubishi L200/Triton. It has a white fibreglass canopy on the back and large black-rimmed wheels, possibly mags," police said.

It also had sign-writing on the doors and an orange flash-light on the roof.

"It would appear to be a contractor's vehicle and may have been either stolen or on loan to a staff member for the weekend."

Shift Commander Steve Matheson praised the neighbour for calling police.