19 Feb 2024

High-speed stolen car run ends in arrest

12:05 pm on 19 February 2024

By Laine Priestley of Otago Daily Times

Police car on the street at night

File pic Photo: 123RF

A young Dunedin couple out on a late-night date were arrested together in a stolen car after getting nabbed by police.

At 12.51am on Monday, officers found a blue Mazda Demio stolen from a Corstorphine address parked in John Wilson Ocean Dr.

The 21-year-old man behind the wheel admitted to driving along Bayview Rd past King's High School at 180km/h when a space-saver tyre at the front of the car blew out, causing him to almost crash.

He also admitted to doing burnouts on John Wilson Ocean Dr.

The man's girlfriend, an 18-year-old, was in the car and admitted she knew the vehicle was stolen, police said.

Both were arrested.

About an hour later at 2am, police located four teenagers running from another stolen Mazda Demio in South Dunedin.

Police arrested all four. Three will appear in Youth Court and one was under 14 and will be followed up with by Youth Aid.

On Saturday at 7.15pm, police spotted a stolen vehicle in Davies St, Concord.

Inside the vehicle was a 35-year-old woman who matched the description of a person who allegedly did a petrol drive-off in a stolen car.

The woman gave arresting officers fake details until she arrived with the police at the station, where she found out she had a warrant for her arrest.

She was charged with unlawful taking, theft under $500, obstructing police, and twice using a bank card for a historic matter. Bail was opposed and she will appear in Dunedin District Court today.

This story was first published by the Otago Daily Times.