A 14-year-old driver and an 11-year-old passenger were involved in a police pursuit yesterday, that resulted in a pregnant woman being hospitalised.
Rodney Area Commander Inspector Bruce O'Brien said the pursuit began in Manurewa at 1.50pm yesterday, after Counties Manukau attempted to stop a stolen vehicle.
The teenagers led the police on a chase along the Southern Motorway and onto the Northern Motorway, until police units pulled back and the vehicle was monitored by the Eagle helicopter.
Road spikes were also deployed just north of the Johnstones Hill Tunnels.
The pregnant woman attempted to stop her car to avoid the spikes and the offending vehicle subsequently drove into the back of her car.
O'Brien said it was distressing that an innocent member of the community was caught up in this incident.
"She was taken to North Shore Hospital and thankfully both she and her unborn child are OK," he said.
"This has understandably caused a lot of stress to both her and her family."
O'Brien said police are supporting the victim and her family and he, along with the Waitemata District Commander, have visited them in hospital.
The two teenage offenders were apprehended shortly after the crash at around 2.18pm.
The 11-year-old was returned home and referred to Youth Aid, while the 14-year-old appeared in the Youth Court today on charges of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, reckless driving causing injury, burglary, escaping custody and failing to stop.
A criminal investigation and an internal investigation have been launched.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has also been notified of the incident.
"We will be making every effort to examine our own actions during this incident to ensure we followed our fleeing driver policy and to see what, if anything, we could have done to prevent this," O'Brien said.
"It is imperative that police continued to monitor the situation but the last thing we ever want is for a member of the public to get injured while police are trying to stop a fleeing driver."
O'Brien said parents and caregivers play a major role in ensuring that teenagers and children aren't driving stolen vehicles.
"Police cannot arrest our way out of this problem but we also cannot solve this issue alone," he said.
"We work closely with our partners, including Oranga Tamariki, but ultimately parenting begins at home."
