Vehicle rammed and three arrested during dramatic police operation in West Auckland

A man is arrested in West Auckland. Photo / Supplied via Ravi Amin

Witnesses have described the dramatic scene in which a car was rammed off the road and three people were arrested during an operation involving the Armed Offenders Squad in West Auckland.

A police spokesman confirmed an "operation" took place in Massey this morning, and the armed officers were involved as a "precautionary measure".

"A number of people are assisting police," he said. "There is no safety risk to the public."

Witnesses saw a black Ford Territory 4WD after it had rammed a Nissan sedan off the road on the corner of Royal and Moire Rds.

A staff member at The Laundry Station in Massey said he saw police surround a car that had a woman in the driver's seat and two men in the back.

"I heard a fire alarm going off and then saw police surround the car."

He heard a loud noise that sounded like a "firecracker or something" and then the woman was pulled from the car.

She was arrested, with the two men.

The Nissan sedan was rammed off the road in front of Shirley Watson's house on Royal Rd.

She said she heard a loud "bang", which she thought was a car crash.

"There are always accidents outside, and then I looked and I saw men with guns walking around.

"I'm in my 80s so I didn't go outside, I just stayed inside."

She said the Nissan had since been towed away, and the scene cleared.

A staff member at Countdown Massey, who refused to be named, said police told them to close the store just after 10am.

Police arrested three people in West Auckland today. Photo / Supplied via Ravi Amin

She said there were helicopters and police cars outside the supermarket.

"It was scary, we stopped customers from going out."

A woman at the Royal Heights PostShop said she saw two men and a woman arrested outside the laundromat.

She said police didn't speak to her and she was "scared to go near them".

Witnesses saw police surround the car. Photo / Supplied via Michelle Neville

Emma Williams took a photo of the scene once police arrived.

"All I saw was police walking around with guns, a girl in a police car and a man on the ground in handcuffs."

Williams took a photo of the scene outside the Mobil station on the corner of Royal and Moire Rds.

She said she was pulling into the petrol station when she saw a man on the ground in handcuffs.

"The woman was in a police car, in the back of the car."

Michelle Neville also saw police restraining two men and a woman.

"The lady was putting up a fight, she didn't want to go easy. She kept rolling over; there were a couple of guys holding her down."

She said she thought the two men and the woman had been in a Nissan sedan, which had been rammed off the road by a Ford Territory 4WD.

Police said two men, aged 39 and 48, and a woman aged 40, will appear in Waitakere District Court tomorrow on a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

"Police would like to thank the community for their patience as the operation was carried out," Detective Inspector John Sutton of Waitemata Police said.