Crash teen who fled police in stolen car arrested

Photo / file

A 16-year-old driver has been arrested after he was seen behind the wheel of a stolen car that crashed into a garage in Hamilton early this morning.

Inspector Leo Tooman, Waikato road policing manager, said the teen was arrested about 2.30am after he was found in another car, being driven home by his mother.

"The male had earlier allegedly been behind the wheel of a Mazda vehicle with a 17-year-old female passenger which had fled police and crashed into a garage at the intersection of Insoll Ave and Peachgrove Rd.

The Mazda driver's speed was up to 100km/h as he attempted to avoid police.

It was extremely fortunate neither of the teens was injured, Mr Tooman said.

Both teenagers will appear in the Hamilton Youth Court today in relation to driving and theft of a motor-vehicle charges while the 16-year-old will also face a charge for breach of bail.

Half of the Waikato's fatal crashes this year have involved drivers under the age of 24 being at fault.

"Given the age and inexperience of the driver we're lucky the only casualty in today's incident was a building," Mr Tooman said.

The early morning garage crash wasn't the only incident Hamilton police had to deal with involving high speed this morning.

At 7.10am an officer abandoned the pursuit of a fleeing driver who failed to stop for a routine traffic stop.

"As the fleeing driver's speeds reached 140km/h in a 50km/h zone the officer chose pull his car over rather than expose the public to further risk," Mr Tooman said.

Excessive speed was a significant factor in several fatal and serious injury crashes in the district this year.

Drivers needed to stop putting themselves and other road users at risk in relation to their driving and realise the higher the speed the bigger the risk, he added.

- NZPA