Hit and run fugitive arrested

A man on the run after a constable was hit by a stolen car that later ended up in an Auckland creek has been located in Wellington, police said today.

The man, 23, from the south Auckland suburb of Otara, was arrested yesterday after information from the public.

He is due to appear in Wellington District Court tomorrow facing charges that include aggravated wounding, burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

Detective Sergeant Scott Armstrong said police would seek to have the matter transferred to North Shore District Court.

He said a 33-year-old woman, Linda Cherie Phillips, was still being sought in relation to the same events early last Tuesday.

The inquiry team was unsure if she was still in the south Auckland area, where she lived.

The pair swam to escape police after their car plunged into Hellyers Creek at Beach Haven.

They were alleged to have been in a stolen car chased by police across Auckland's North Shore.

At one point, the car struck a police constable, who was putting down road spikes on a Takapuna road about 8km from Beach Haven.

Mr Armstrong said the 23-year-old constable, who was flung into the air by the impact, had been discharged from hospital and was recovering at home.

A third person alleged to have been in the car was arrested as he came out of the water a short distance from where the vehicle ended up.

That person, a 28-year-old man, was remanded in custody after appearing in the North Shore court on Wednesday charged with burglary and unlawfully getting into a vehicle.

- NZPA