Divers search harbour for car plunge woman

A crane lifts the damaged Ford Fairlane from the crash scene in Beach Haven. The car and several occupants plunged off the wharf into the estuary. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Police divers are searching part of Waitemata Harbour after a suggestion a woman who fled into the water after a dramatic car chase yesterday may not have got out.

A stolen Ford Falcon car plunged off Beach Haven Wharf on Auckland's North Shore about 4am yesterday after a police chase which began in Albany and wound its way through Milford, Takapuna, Northcote and Beach Haven.

During the chase a policeman was hit by the speeding car as he laid road spikes to stop it. He was taken to hospital with what were said to be serious injuries but police said later they were not as bad as first thought.

The three occupants took to the water. One was caught coming ashore in an estuary a short distance away but the other two have still not been found.

Police said it had been suggested to them one of the two missing people, a woman, may not have made it out of the water safely.

However, police spokesman Kevin Loughlin said it was only a suggestion and that did not mean the woman had died.

North Shore area commander Inspector Les Paterson said several south Auckland addresses were visited by police earlier today.

"However, there is uncertainty about the female and her whereabouts. As a precautionary action the police dive squad has been called in to assist us. The specialist unit is searching inshore waters of the Greenhithe peninsula," he said.

The police maritime unit had also joined the search.

The arrested man, a 28-year-old unemployed man, from south Auckland, was appearing in the North Shore District Court today.

The injured policeman would probably be released from hospital later this week.

- NZPA