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A Far North teen on electronic bail stole a car from a hospital car park and sped down the wrong side of State Highway 1, police say.
Northland police had been trying to find the 17-year-old since he allegedly breached electronic bail on 3 May.
Acting senior sergeant Greg Johnson, of Kaikohe police, said the teen had been bailed to a Taheke address but let the battery of his electronically monitored tracker go flat.
Johnson said the accused had broken into a car parked on Gillies Street, Kawakawa, between 9 May and 10 May, leaving the ignition destroyed.
Another vehicle was stolen from the Bay of Islands Hospital car park, also in Kawakawa, the same day.
Between 14-15 May he committed another six offences in the Kawakawa and Taheke areas, Johnson said.
"Then on Wednesday afternoon police were notified of a stolen vehicle travelling on State Highway 1 on the wrong side of the road through Dome Forest.
"Police signalled for the driver to stop, however, he has accelerated and driven recklessly, almost crashing into a number of other vehicles and causing motorists to take evasive action to avoid a crash."
Johnson said the pursuit was abandoned due to the manner of the teen's driving, but he was caught in the early hours of Thursday as he was trying to steal a vehicle on Railway Road in Kawakawa.
"These offenders are putting the wider community at risk when they flee from police, and targeting people's modes of transport, and in hospital car parks, is a low act."
The teen, who cannot be named because of this age, has been remanded in custody.
He is due back in Kaikohe Youth Court on 11 June.