Police in Auckland have recovered several stolen vehicles and taken their occupants into custody.
A member of the public reported illegal street racing involving two vehicles in Henderson at around 12.30am.
°Â²¹¾±³Ù±ð³¾²¹³Ù¨¡ West Area Response Manager, Senior Sergeant Damian Albert, says the vehicles were seen on Henderson Valley Road.
¡°A responding Police unit located and stopped a vehicle matching a description reported to Police, on nearby Gum Road with three young people inside.
¡°All three were 13-year-olds and will be referred to Youth Aid.¡±
Senior Sergeant Albert says Police located another vehicle nearby, which had been abandoned.
¡°Both vehicles were soon confirmed as having been stolen and were recovered for their owners.
¡°Illegal street racing poses many risks to the community and it¡¯s just fortunate that neither set of occupants, or members of the public, were injured.¡±
Earlier that afternoon, a Police unit recorded a vehicle being driven at excessive speed on the motorway network near the Ports of Auckland.
T¨¡maki Makaurau Road Policing Manager, Inspector Juliet Burgess, says Police signalled for the driver to stop.
¡°They did not and fled at high-speed heading north. The Police unit did not pursue due to the dangerous manner of driving.
¡°The Police Eagle helicopter was deployed and located the vehicle abandoned in Northcote Point. A Police dog team tracked, located, and arrested the driver who was hiding behind a garden shed.
¡°The vehicle was confirmed as being stolen and was recovered for its owner.¡±
A 39-year-old man, who is also an associate of the Head Hunters gang, will appear in the Auckland District Court today facing a raft of charges relating to the theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, receiving stolen property and possessing methamphetamine.
ENDS
Tony Wright/°µÍø½ûÇø