KEY POINTS:
A hitchhiker phoned police after being taken on a terrifying ride through North Canterbury in a stolen vehicle.
Constable Richard Osborne, of the police highway patrol, gave chase on Monday when he clocked the stolen black Ford Falcon at 129km/h.
But he abandoned the pursuit when he estimated the Falcon was travelling at between 220km/h and 230km/h on the Balmoral Straight, just north of the Hurunui River bridge.
"I don't know whether they were trying to get away from me or just hadn't seen me," Mr Osborne said of his initial encounter with the vehicle.
"But it became obvious after a couple of miles they were trying to get away."
Mr Osborne said the incident happened just before 2.50pm, and he realised the speeding vehicle was approaching Culverden where there would be children finishing school.
"I was well aware of school kids being around Culverden about 3 o'clock.
"There's a lot goes through your mind. It's just one of those things. You've got to flag it [the pursuit]."
Mr Osborne said it was the car's speed that attracted his attention, not the fact it was stolen - something he discovered later.
"They'd picked up a hitchhiker who said he was absolutely terrified when the pursuit was taking place. He said they'd reached speeds of 250km/h and were airborne at times."
He said the hitchhiker told police there were three men in the car when he was picked up, and had given a good description of them.
The car stopped and let him out near Culverden.
Mr Osborne said police were still looking for the car but "we definitely have a line of inquiry".
Canterbury road policing manager Inspector Derek Erasmus said the highly dangerous incident was "absolute mindless stupidity".
"The problem obviously is it's a huge danger for the occupants of the car, for our police and anyone else on the road," Mr Erasmus said.
"Our big aim is we've got to get a [driver] like that off the road.
"We do not want a person like that driving because this indicates they are going to kill someone."
- NZPA
