14 youths arrested over spate of Auckland vehicle thefts and incidents

Fourteen youths, including some as young as 13, have been arrested in relation to a spate of stolen-vehicle incidents across Auckland.

Police have detailed several incidents across the city in the past two days, including one where a driver tried to hide a vehicle and subsequently rolled it down a bank.

Shortly after 2am on Thursday, police received a report involving a group of youths interfering with parked vehicles on Spinella Drive in Bayview.

Waitematā East relieving area commander, Inspector Michael Rickards, said police were deployed to the area and learned two vehicles the group were travelling in were stolen.

“We did not initiate a pursuit but were soon able to deploy spikes successfully on one of the vehicles in Takapuna.

“This vehicle soon came to a stop where the two occupants fled on foot, but were quickly taken into custody,” Rickards said.

The second vehicle was spotted by police in Titirangi and a pursuit was initiated.

Rickards said the driver tried to hide the vehicle from police down a steep driveway, but lost control and rolled down a small bank.

Five occupants fled into the bush but police found four and took them into custody, Rickards said. Two were transported to Waitākere Hospital for medical attention.

It followed an incident in Mount Wellington shortly before midnight on Tuesday, when a person reported their vehicle stolen. Police received information from the owner that the vehicle was travelling south.

“The vehicle was tracked to Māngere, where it eventually came to a stop at an address in Ihumātao,” said Counties Manukau West response manager, Senior Sergeant Steve Albrey.

“Our staff cordoned off the area and located the stolen vehicle at the rear of the property.”

Five youths, four of them aged 13, were taken into custody at the address without further incident.

About 3.30am on Wednesday, police received a call regarding a number of young people parking vehicles near Becroft Park in Forrest Hill on Auckland’s North Shore.

Counties Manukau South area commander Inspector Joe Hunter said a police unit attended the scene and spotted another vehicle, suspected to be stolen, driving towards the park.

“Upon seeing police, the driver has taken off at speed, but we didn’t pursue and tracked it south using traffic cameras as it exited the motorway at Takanini, where we successfully spiked its tyres.

“The driver has continued on rims along Great South Rd, but the vehicle soon came to a complete stop,” Hunter said.

Two youths aged 14 and a 15-year-old were taken into custody.

“While we’ve had a successful and safe apprehension outcome, our thoughts are with the multiple victims affected by this group’s behaviour,” Hunter said.

Five other stolen vehicles were located in Forest Hill and recovered in connection to the third incident.