Suspect outruns police pursuit

Armed Offenders Squad officers taking part in the search at One Tree Point for a well known fugitive gang member. Photo / John Stone

A criminal well known to police and driving a stolen Audi led several police cars on a high-speed chase around One Tree Point and Takahiwai before he seemed to vanish.

One witness estimates the black Audi got up to 200 km/h during the dramatic road chase early yesterday afternoon.

The man was wanted for an alleged serious gang-related incident that occurred "further down the line", Whangarei Sergeant Shane Turner said.

The police had responded to a sighting of him in the stolen car in the Ruakaka area before midday. Although being sighted and tailed by police, the speeding car disappeared - the driver possibly having turned into a private property and gone to ground.

Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) members, a helicopter, other police personnel and a dog squad were part of the manhunt that followed, with several properties visited in the area at mid-afternoon. Mr Turner said some were addresses where people may have had "very loose links" to the fugitive.

The AOS team was part of the operation as a precaution. There had been no sighting of weapons nor did the crime the man was wanted for involve them, Mr Turner said.

Among other precautions the police had taken, a patrol car was positioned at the State Highway 1-Ruakaka roundabout with road-spikes.

The man had not been detained by edition time.