Dunedin teenager with a "need for speed" told police she "knew it was stupid" to take them on a city-wide drive as she fled police at speeds which reached 120kmh.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said police saw a vehicle speeding on Portsmouth Dr, South Dunedin, at 1.44am on Tuesday.
Police turned on their flashing lights and pursued the car. However, the driver, an 18-year-old woman, increased her speed in an attempt to evade police.
Officers abandoned the pursuit and lost sight of the vehicle.
The woman was later seen driving at 120kmh in a 50kmh zone.
She turned her car’s headlights off and sped off.
While officers conducted area searches, the woman drove past officers in Fryatt St, still with her headlights off, and drove over the roundabout at Ward and Halsley Sts.
She then sped up the Ward St overbridge, lost control of her vehicle and crashed into the kerb.
Police then turned on their red and blue lights. However, the woman continued to flee, this time driving at 30kmh an hour.
When she stopped at the traffic lights, officers left their vehicle and approached her before she once again sped off, this time across the road to the Mobil service station in Anzac St, where
she got out of the car, threw the keys on the car roof and put her hands up.
When police asked the woman why she fled and sped around the city, she told them 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 has also been suspended for 28 days and she has been summoned to appear in Dunedin District Court at a later date.
