A teenage girl crashed a stolen car with a blown tyre after leading police on a high-speed chase through South Dunedin yesterday morning, police say.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said the 14-year-old was picked up by a friend sometime between midnight and 2am to scout cars to steal.
She allegedly stole a Toyota Aqua and headed towards Bathgate Park with her friend.
Shortly after, police received a report of people doing burnouts at the park.
"The 14-year-old and associates have driven on the grass, doing skids, causing damage to the field."
Upon police arriving, the cars "sped off at high speed" towards the roundabout at Hillside Rd, Forbury Rd and David St, Snr Sgt Bond said.
She then travelled towards the Caversham bypass and on to the Southern Motorway.
"She's been well in excess of the posted speed limit.
"The car she was driving, which was stolen, blew its front right tyre.
"We were trying to get spikes into the position at the time, but it's blown out."
She then travelled at 120kmh along State Highway 1 before going through the Andersons Bay Rd intersection and crashing into a concrete wall below the billboards, Snr Sgt Bond said.
She was arrested and would appear in the Dunedin Youth Court today.
In a statement yesterday, police said they were following strong lines of inquiry into reported vehicle thefts, were watching for vehicle crime and monitoring hotspots in the area.
They are urging the public to be vigilant this Christmas season after seeing an increase in vehicle theft in Dunedin.
Police were asking owners of cars, particularly Toyota Aquas and Mazda Demios, to make sure their vehicles were locked and, if possible, securely parked overnight.
