Five car chases put police under pressure

Police northern communications staff were put under stress early today when five chases took place simultaneously during a 20-minute period in the Auckland and Counties/Manukau area.

Inspector Barry Smalley, of the communications centre, said the chases started with the pursuit of a mini chopper motorcycle in the back blocks of south Auckland.

"During the duration of this pursuit there were four others in various parts of the city," he said.

"One was over fairly quickly when the driver, realizing his mistake, pulled over and stopped shortly after he had decided take off from the police."

The second chase was abandoned at the first traffic light-controlled intersection, when the pursued vehicle failed to stop at a red light. It crashed at the next intersection, but the occupants suffered no injuries.

"The next pursuit started to turn bad for the offending driver when he clipped a vehicle after turning in front of it at an intersection," Mr Smalley said.

"The offending vehicle drove on a short distance before losing control and being boxed in by the pursuing police car.

"The final pursuit was short-lived when the driver of the offending vehicle decided to stop."

He said that after all the excitement the mini chopper that began it all was forced to stop by police cars 20 minutes after it started.

"This pursuit involved low speeds but trying to capture this highly maneuverable little motorcycle proved to be more of a task that the others were," Mr Smalley said.

No injuries were sustained during the coordination of the pursuits, and several people are now facing a number of traffic charges.

- NZPA