A manhunt is underway in residential Papamoa for a driver who crashed while fleeing police.
Police are looking for the man after he was initially stopped on Dickson Rd near Grant Place.
A police communications spokeswoman said the man's vehicle was stopped by police about 1.20pm. When the officer got out of the vehicle, the offending driver then took off in his car.
The driver then crashed into another car, the driver of which has since been taken to Tauranga Hospital, she said.
The spokeswoman said police were still actively searching for the driver, who fled on foot from the crash scene.