The police are searching for two people who fled from officers on the Desert Road, in the central North Island.
Police said they tried to stop a stolen car on State Highway 1, in the Tongariro area, at about 3pm, but the driver didn't stop.
The driver and the passenger, a man and a woman, then dumped the car on Tree Trunk Gorge Road before running into bush nearby.
Officers believe the pair are still in the area, and are asking anyone who spots them hitchhiking on the Desert Road to contact them.
