Police launched a manhunt in Gate Pa last night after a man fled from his crashed car.
Northern communications Inspector Andy Brill said police tried to pull over a car in Gate Pa at about 8.20pm but the driver fled.
The short car chase came to an abrupt end when the man crashed the black Subaru Forester he was driving down a hill and through a fence on a nearby street - much to the shock of the property owners, whose home was only metres away.
"We felt it. We thought they'd hit the house because the whole house shook," home owner Brent Brosnan told the Bay of Plenty Times.
"There was a huge crash and a shudder."