A police spokeswoman said the trio were apprehended in relation to events on Saturday.
Inquiries were continuing to determine the exact circumstances of what went on.
Police could say that on Saturday, the driver of a vehicle of interest, reported as stolen, fled police in Oamaru about 1.10am.
The vehicle was next seen on Dunedin’s Northern Motorway about 2am, and then spotted driving the wrong way on the city’s one-way system.
Road spikes were deployed in Cumberland St and one wheel was spiked about 3am, but the car kept going.
The pursuit was called off about 3.10am and the vehicle was thought to have headed towards Mosgiel on State Highway 1.
The same night there were also several cars taken and damaged in Dunedin.
A Mazda Demio taken from Glen Rd
was found in Balclutha.
A witness said she saw a hit-and-run incident in South Dunedin later that day, in which a man on a mobility scooter was struck by a white Mazda Capella that another person at the scene told her had been flagged as stolen on social media.
She said the man was physically unharmed and his scooter was damaged, although he was still able to ride it.
Another person at the scene had been able to take down the registration plate number, which was sent to police, before the driver left without checking for injuries, the witness said.
More witnesses and people affected told the Otago Daily Times of at least two more stolen and damaged vehicles, both Mazdas, in the St Kilda area on Saturday afternoon.
The owner of one said the whole thing had been a "s..... experience".
He said he had gone out for an hour on Saturday and when he returned, his car was missing. A still-running damaged Mazda Demio had been left nearby.
"You just don’t expect it to happen to you, but when it does you understand how bad it is."
Asked if the events were connected, a police spokeswoman said they were unable to say if there was a link.
Further details of the youths and how and when they were caught were not supplied.
