Fleeing teen killed after police chase

Police say the youth who was killed at the wheel of this vehicle was driving well over the 100km/h speed limit. Photo / Sarah Ivey

A fleeing teenager was killed and an innocent motorist amazingly escaped serious injury when a stolen car the police were chasing struck another vehicle yesterday.

The 19-year-old - described by one witness as looking "angry" and "devastated" during the chase - was killed when the Nissan he was driving ploughed into a Ford Falcon in rural Waiuku, south of Auckland.

Police say officers pulled out of the pursuit and stopped at the side of the road 30 seconds before the collision.

The occupant of the Falcon, a woman in her 30s, suffered only minor injuries despite her car being a write-off and wreckage being strewn everywhere.

The fatal police pursuit is the second this year and follows a horror run last year when 16 people died as a result of motorists fleeing the police.

Yesterday, road worker Jaz Moana, 22, was working near Waiuku when he saw the Nissan fly past "fast as", followed by the police car.

He caught a glimpse of the teenager. "He looked just devastated ... He looked angry as," Mr Moana said at the scene.

The accident happened about 3pm at the intersection of Patumahoe and Waiuku Rds, which locals call "crash corner".

The noise of the crash was heard hundreds of metres away. "We heard it ... a really big bang," said resident Bev Stead.

The Counties-Manukau South area commander, Inspector Gary Hill, said a second police car was parked 500m down Patumahoe Rd and officers saw the collision.

"They actually saw the vehicle plough through the intersection and witnessed the crash. The lady, the member of the public that got run into, she's very, very lucky ... A half-second later, that would have been another story."

Mr Hill said it was amazing she wasn't killed, or injured more seriously. The force of the impact shunted the cars off the road and into trees circling a property.

Mr Hill said the front of the Falcon was "completely gone" and the other vehicle was also badly damaged.

Police found the dead teen's identification in his pocket and were contacting his next-of-kin last night.

His body was still in the car three hours after the crash as members of the police serious crash unit investigated.

Mr Hill didn't want to speculate on how fast the teen was driving other than to say he was in a 100km/h zone and it was "well in excess of 100km/h".

It is believed the vehicle had been stolen from Auckland City earlier in the day.

A detective inspector had been appointed to oversee the investigation into the crash.

It was initially thought a second person had fled the stolen car, because a witness said they saw someone running from the scene. But a search of the area, including by the police helicopter, did not find anyone.

The other death this year in a police pursuit happened in early January on Auckland's Southern Motorway.

Timoti Mohi, 15, crashed into a power pylon near the Market Rd off-ramp after reaching 180km/h. The police said the pursuit was called off seconds before the crash.

Last year, 372 of the 2113 pursuits ended in crashes, and 16 people died. During that time, officers abandoned 643 chases.

An Independent Police Conduct Authority review of pursuits in 2009 recommended the force amend its pursuit policy to give officers clearer guidance on when a pursuit should begin.

It also recommended police base the decision to pursue on known facts rather than speculating about a driver's reasons for failing to stop.

- additional reporting: Moana Tapaleao