Three teenagers have been taken into custody after a stolen vehicle was driven down the wrong side of Auckland's Southern Motorway while fleeing police.
It comes after eagle-eyed officers spotted broken quarter light windows on two vehicles travelling along East St, in Pukekohe, around 9.40pm yesterday.
Inspector Joe Hunter said while the vehicles "had not yet been reported stolen", the officers called for extra units and the police Eagle helicopter for assistance.
One of the vehicles fled at high speed after noticing police, with the other following close behind.
Police did not pursue the vehicles, however the police helicopter tracked the fleeing drivers as they entered the Southern Motorway at Bombay and travelled north.
"Despite police deploying spikes at the Drury off-ramp, one of the vehicles re-entered the motorway after exiting and travelled on the wrong side of the road," he said.
Hunter said the vehicle "reached excessive speeds while narrowly missing several members of the public".
It was spiked after exiting the motorway at Ramarama, eventually coming to a stop in the shoulder.
Two occupants fled on foot to a nearby field, and were taken into custody "without further incident a short time later".
The second vehicle stopped for police on the Drury off-ramp "without incident" and the driver, the sole occupant, was taken into custody.
Both vehicles had been stolen in earlier incidents, he said.
"We are very lucky no members of the public were injured during this incident and I commend our staff whose keen spotting of the broken quarter light windows led us to these arrests," Hunter said.
"We hope the public can be reassured with have no tolerance for this brazen behaviour in our communities."
A 17-year-old male is due to appear in the Manukau Youth Court today following the incident.
Two 14-year-olds have been referred to Youth Aid.
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