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Source: ONE News
Two suspects remain on the run after a dramatic police chase in Golden Bay involving two stolen vehicles ended when road spikes stopped the getaway car.
One of the occupants was caught by police and two others were being pursued on foot in heavy bush this morning.
The pursuit started about 7.15am when a Mitsubishi Chariot station wagon, with three occupants, drove off from the Caltex Motueka petrol station.
Police said the occupants had allegedly failed to pay for petrol.
Sergeant Rob Crawford, of Motueka, said police followed the car but abandoned the pursuit after reaching speeds of 125kmh to 150kmh while heading to Nelson on State Highway 60.
''The pursuit was abandoned due to speed and the manner of the driving.
''It was dangerous - the speed itself was a danger," he said.
The vehicle crashed in Hoddy Rd at Mahana about 7.20am, going through a fence and ending up in a ditch.
Crawford said the trio then allegedly stole another vehicle, a red Toyota Hilux ute, from a Hoddy Rd property while police were still searching for them.
The pursuit was resumed when the ute was seen heading south on SH6, travelling through Kawatiri towards Murchison.
It was eventually slowed after running over road spikes.
The vehicle was being driven on two bare wheel rims when it eventually stopped in Matiri West Bank Rd, a dead-end gravel road off Matiri Valley Rd, said a police spokesperson.
A teenager from Nelson was apprehended and a search was continuing for two others who had fled into the surrounding heavy bush.