Teenager killed in police pursuit named

Emergency services surround an upturned car that crashed during a police pursuit on Hobsonville Road, West Auckland, Sunday. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Police have released the name of a teenager killed in a high speed pursuit through Auckland early yesterday.

Sina Naraghizadeh, an 18-year-old Iranian national, died instantly when the stolen Subaru he was driving left Hobsonville Rd, hit a tree and lamp post, flipped and slammed into a fence.

Police said a 16-year-old female passenger was still in hospital with moderate injuries today.

Police said that minutes before the crash, officers saw the car being driven erratically. When the driver ran a red light, they began a pursuit that lasted about three minutes.

They then lost sight of the Subaru, but another police car came across the wreckage less than a minute later.

A witness said police removed the wreckage about 3.30am, but serious crash unit investigators were at the scene until 5am.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority is investigating.

According to the Police Association, officers engaged in between 2000 and 2500 vehicle pursuits each year.

Naraghizadeh was the second person this year to die in a crash in which the driver was fleeing police.

Last year, 16 people died as a result of motorists fleeing the police.