A man was killed when his vehicle hit a power pole during a police pursuit in Taranaki last night.
The chase was sparked about 7.40pm when the man's vehicle appeared to deliberately ram a parked police car in Opunake before heading south towards Manaia.
It was spotted speeding a short time later by a highway patrol vehicle which initiated a pursuit but it very quickly lost sight of the vehicle, police said in a statement.
Another police vehicle then saw it travelling south, did a U-turn and began a pursuit with lights and sirens on.
The police did not have the vehicle in sight for the entire time and after driving through Manaia came across it crashed into a power pole near an intersection.
The 36-year-old male driver from New Plymouth was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died later in the evening.
"The cause of the crash is under investigation and the Independent Police Complaints Authority (IPCA) has been informed, as is policy when police are following vehicles that crash,'' police said.
The name of the man would not be released until next of kin had been told.
