'We thought she was going to die': Witness describes horrific crash in West Auckland

A witness to a horrific crash in West Auckland last night said she thanked God when she realised that all passengers had survived.

A very loud bang alerted Alosi Loseli, her family, and their neighbours to the chaos unfolding outside their Te Atatu Peninsula homes just before midnight.

The Loseli family ran to their backyard and were shocked by the mangled wreck of a car that was wrapped around a nearby traffic light pole.

The crash followed a short police pursuit after a patrol unit indicated for the driver to pull over due to excessive speed, but he chose to flee.

The vehicle, which had recently been stolen, was pursued by police along Te Atatu Rd. However, it crashed into a traffic island near a motorway off-ramp approximately three minutes later.

A high speed police chase ended with car wrapped around a traffic light. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Loseli said she witnessed the driver hop out of the vehicle following the crash and begin to run away.

"He tried to go to the other side of the motorway but the police were following him.

"We walked around to see the crash closer, and by the time we got there the police had already caught him," she said.

Loseli said emergency services arrived at the scene quickly, and proceeded to remove one of the passengers who was trapped in the vehicle.

"I felt sorry in my heart when I found out there was a passenger trapped because I saw how damaged the car was," she said.

"We thought she was going to die, but once they got her out she was still alive and moving around, only her leg seemed injured.

"When we saw her move I thought 'thank God' because we knew she was still alive."

Due to the state of the vehicle, Loseli said it was lucky that everyone survived.

Two teenagers, aged 14 and 13, were taken to Auckland's Starship Hospital - one was in a serious condition and the other was moderate.

The 15-year-old driver was taken into custody and is expected to appear in Youth Court today.

When she found out the age of the people involved, Loseli said she felt sorry for their parents.

"I feel sorry because I have children, and I know their mum and dad didn't know where they are - now they have to hear the bad news," she said.

Senior Sergeant Jesse Mowat, who was at the scene, said there had been way too many incidents of young people in stolen vehicles fleeing from police and not stopping.

A message for all young people thinking of doing this, there are very, very serious consequences to that kind of behaviour, Mowat said.

"We want them to think long and hard before deciding to flee from police and putting their own lives at risk.

"The short and simple message is - just pull over."

The Serious Crash Unit attended the scene and the IPCA will be notified.