13-year-old girl caught driving stolen car with five passengers

File photo / NZ Herald

A 13-year-old girl has been caught driving a stolen car with five others along for the ride, say Hamilton police.

Acting Senior Sergeant Phil Ruddell of the Hamilton Strategic Unit, said a night full of "concerning" incidents and arrests began when officers noticed a car driving erratically about 10pm yesterday.

"On pulling it over [police] discovered a 13-year-old girl behind the wheel of a stolen car with four other juveniles and a 19-year-old aboard."

He said the underage driving incident was "particularly concerning" because of the ages of those involved.

"In addition to contacting the owner of the car about its recovery, police are now working with partner agencies to arrange care and supervision for the juveniles."

About an hour and a half later, officers pulled over a 23-year-old male driver seen running a red light.

A breath test on the driver showed he was nearly double the legal alcohol driving limit. He tested 737mgms, 337 over the legal limit, said Mr Ruddell.

"Then about 2.20am a 23-year-old female driver was stopped in the City for speeding, when breath tested she returned a result of 869mgms. The frustrating thing for us was the woman had two males in her car, one of whom was sober and Police arranged for him to drive the car back to the station."

Mr Ruddell said both drivers were automatically suspended from driving for 28 days.

He said officers then dealt with a woman seen walking in the middle the road.

"On locating her she was found to be very intoxicated and told our staff she was heading to Whangarei, instead she was taken back to the station for her own safety and when she sobers up we'll point her in the direction of the bus station if she still wants to head north."

He said given the night's incidents and the arrest of two intoxicated drivers early yesterday morning, police were concerned about the positions people were placing themselves in.

Mr Ruddell urged people to plan how to get home from a night out, and said saving money for a taxi fare would save a far greater cost.