A man with ties to Northland and wanted by police has been found in Puhoi.
William John Murphy has been arrested after crashing a vehicle on State Highway One near Puhoi.
He was wanted by police allegedly in connection with a series of up to seven home invasions on the elderly in the Auckland area in the past week.
At about 8am a stolen car believed to be driven by Murphy was seen on state highway one just north of the Puhoi toll road tunnels. It was not being pursued by police at the time but was being driven at speed and crashed a short time later and the sole occupant ran off into bush near the Puhoi River.
Police supported by Eagle Helicopter and a dog unit were quickly on the scene and with the help of CCTV technology on the roading network the dog handler was pointed in the direction to where Murphy was hiding and he surrendered without resistance.