Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police saw a vehicle speeding while driving along Portsmouth Dr, South Dunedin at 1.44am today.
Police turned on their lights and pursued the car, however the driver, an 18-year-old woman, sped up and fled.
Officers followed but as she started driving faster, police abandoned the pursuit and lost sight of the vehicle.
While parked in Creswell St, the woman was seen again driving at 120kmh in a 50kmh zone.
She turned her car’s headlights off and sped away.
While conducting area searches, the woman drove past officers in Fryatt St, still with her headlights off, and when she approached the Ward and Halsley Sts roundabout, she drove over the top of it.
She sped up the Ward St overbrige, lost control of her vehicle and crashed into the curb.
Police then turned on their red and blue lights, however the woman continued to flee, this time driving at just 30kmh an hour.
The woman stopped at the lights, and as officers left their vehicle to approach her, she sped off into the Mobil service station in Anzac Ave.
Officers again approached and she threw her car keys on her car roof and put her hands up.
When police asked the woman why she fled police and sped around the city, the woman told officer she "knew it was stupid — she was stressed out as she knew she was speeding so was trying to get away from police".
She was arrested and charged with reckless driving, her licence was suspended for 28 days and summoned to appear in Dunedin District Court next year.
