Four Bay of Plenty youths were taken into custody early this morning after allegedly fleeing police "at speed" through Auckland in a stolen car.
Police were made aware of the group at about 4.15am when the Eagle helicopter spotted a car believed to be stolen travelling along State Highway 20 near Hillsborough.
Police said the vehicle was understood to be reported stolen from an address in Rotorua.
"Upon noticing police, the vehicle has left the area at high speed," Auckland City west area commander Inspector Alisse Robertson said.
"Police did not pursue. However, Eagle continued to monitor the vehicle as it continued travelling southbound."
Spikes were laid on the motorway at Bombay Hills and the vehicle exited at Mercer, eventually coming to a stop on McLean St.
Three of the occupants were taken into custody while a fourth attempted to escape police on foot.
"They were also located and arrested a short time later," Robertson said.
All four, aged between 12 and 15, were referred to Youth Services.
It's just the latest incident in the last seven days where a groups of youths has allegedly fled police in a stolen vehicle.
Yesterday, four youths aged 12 to 17 were arrested in Auckland.
On Friday, a nine-year-old was among five caught in Manukau.
Robertson said the latest incident came on "another night of the same concerns".
"Once again, we are very lucky no one was injured during this incident," she said.
"At times, the vehicle was observed to be reaching almost twice the posted speed limit, which is just putting lives at risk.
"For those who choose to engage in this type of behaviour, our message is clear: Police will continue to make arrests and hold those offenders to account."
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