A 4WD went on a rampage through commuter traffic in Christchurch this morning, reportedly hitting a car with children inside outside a school.
Police confirmed the man allegedly involved in the rampage had been captured around 11am in the innercity suburb of Woolston.
Police received several calls about an SUV being driven erratically through the city before 9am.
Police said the driver was being spoken to after a lengthy pursuit, which started in rural North Canterbury this morning.
It was believed a quadbike was stolen from a rural property near Amberley. A short time later a green 4WD Nissan Patrol vehicle with an A-frame tow bar on the front was stolen and seen driving erratically towards Christchurch.
Police said the male driver drove through roadworks at high speed and damaged fences, private property and a golf course.
They were now asking for sightings of the vehicle between 9am and 10am in the Canterbury area. It was also seen driving through a river.
Fairfax reported the driver ditched the 4WD and hid in a garage roof after a chase through the streets of Christchurch.
Sue Gdanitz saw the drama unfold this morning.
About 8.45am, as traffic backed up for a school crossing across Main North Rd, a blue 4WD passed the traffic on the wrong side of the road "going flat out", she said.
"I was pretty concerned because my kids go there and they would've been due to go across the crossing about then," she said.
"[The 4WD] went to go around School Rd corner, around the backed-up traffic, smashed into a woman's car with a couple of kids in it."
She said the woman was "shaken" but there were no reported injuries.
The speeding vehicle then took off down School Rd, being chased by police.
Gdanitz said locals were unhappy with the police chasing a car through such a busy area, near a school.
"Even if it was a murderer in there, it's not good when it's speeding past a school."
It appears that the SUV has gone up the wrong way on the Northern Motorway and then north through Woodend, 20km north of Christchurch.
"A couple of very shaken children at Woodend School this morning," one person wrote on Facebook.
"The SUV sideswiped a families [sic] car at school drop off trying to escape closing in police."
Another wrote of the terrifying experience: "The driver of the 4x4 just about took myself and my children out as he came up the motorway on ramp the wrong way. Terrified my kids."
A spokeswoman at Woodend School said the chase happened between 8.30am and 9am.
She was inside at the time, but was aware there had been a "high speed chase".
She was not aware of anyone being injured.
If anyone witnessed the event or had property damaged, they are encouraged to contact their local police or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
* Police say a 23-year-old man has been remanded in custody and will appear in the Christchurch District Court tomorrow.
