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Four youths have been arrested after police said they fled through South Auckland and into Hamilton.
Police said the driver of a vehicle failed to stop for officers on East Street in Pukekohe, about 10.40am on Saturday.
A formal police pursuit was not started, police said, so officers followed at the speed limit, and found the vehicle had been abandoned by the driver and passengers on Hall Street in central Pukekohe.
The young people were then picked up by a second vehicle, which was later abandoned on Bairds Road, in Ōtara.
They then drove from Ōtara to Hamilton in a third vehicle, which police said had been stolen.
In Hamilton, police laid road spikes near the intersection of Victoria and Wall streets, and the stolen car hit the spikes at about 12.40pm, before allegedly hitting a police vehicle.
By this point, police said a firearm had been reportedly sighted in the vehicle, and they authorised a formal pursuit.
"Police vehicles pursued for a short period of time until the Eagle helicopter could take over," the statement said.
"Once the Eagle helicopter was overhead, police vehicles abandoned the pursuit and Eagle continued to monitor the vehicles' progress."
The driver of the stolen vehicle kept going, but lost control near the Fairfield Bridge intersection on Victoria Street, about 1pm, police said. The occupants tried to flee, but were arrested at that point.
Police said no bystanders were hurt, and no firearm was found in the vehicle.
The four people arrested would go before the courts on driving and dishonesty related matters.
Anyone who failed to stop for police created danger to everyone around them, police said.
"[Officers] are committed to keeping our roads safe and will always assess the risk before initiating a pursuit.
"Police appreciate that this incident has been disruptive and has caused distress to motorists in Auckland and Hamilton.
"Instead of a pursuit, police are generally able to monitor the progress of a fleeing vehicle and plan a safe intervention to bring the incident to an end, such as in this incident."
In cases where anyone fleeing from police was not immediately caught, they said officers would still work to track them down to hold them to account.
