A teenager was bitten by a police dog and arrested after crashing an allegedly stolen car into a tree in Dunedin.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police observed a vehicle travelling along Melbourne St, South Dunedin, at 4.45am on Sunday.
Young people were inside the vehicle which had crashed into a tree at the intersection of Wilson Ave and Surrey St in St Clair.
Two youths fled, one of them a 16-year-old who was tracked by a police dog and bitten.
The teen was found with drugs in his possession along with an ignition barrel and some vice grips, Snr Sgt Bond said.
The car turned out to be stolen.
A witness at the scene said they heard "a loud crash" followed by the sounds of a car rapidly trying to take off.
The witness said they then heard another crash, later followed by "the grunts of an injured man" and dogs barking.
Snr Sgt Bond said the teen was charged with unlawfully getting into a motor vehicle, possession of instruments for conversion, unlawful interference with a motor vehicle, possession of cannabis and escaping police custody.
Police were following positive lines of inquiry to locate the driver, he said.
