A 16-year-old girl has been charged following a police pursuit in a suspected stolen vehicle in the Southern Highlands yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Around 1.20pm on Wednesday, March 11, police were alerted to a red Hyundai Elantra sedan allegedly driving at high speeds on the Hume Highway, north of Goulburn.
At 1.45pm, officers attached to Goulburn Proactive Team attempted to stop the Hyundai as it was travelling near Uringalla Creek, Marulan.
The driver allegedly accelerated, and a pursuit was initiated on the Hume Highway, towards Sutton Forest.
The pursuit was terminated near Belangalo Road a short time later for safety reasons.
Shortly after, police initiated a second pursuit of the same vehicle as it continued to travel north bound on the Hume Highway through Berrima and Woodlands.
Road spikes were deployed near the Mittagong exit, with the Hyundai allegedly swerving to avoid them, crashing into trees on the median strip, then continuing to travel north. The pursuit was terminated again.
The Hyundai exited the highway onto the Old Hume Highway, with officers attached to Southern Highlands Police District observing all four occupants exiting the vehicle and running into bushland.
Shortly after, the 16-year-old female driver and three male passengers, two aged 13 and one aged 15, were arrested and taken to Southern Highlands Police Station.
The 16-year-old girl was taken to Bowral Hospital for treatment for a pre-existing medical condition.
Upon release from hospital, the girl was taken to Southern Highlands Police Station and charged with take and drive conveyance without consent of owner, two counts of police pursuit - not stop - drive recklessly, never licensed person drive vehicle on road, and dishonestly obtain property by deception.
Police will allege that the same suspected stolen vehicle was allegedly involved in a fail to pay offence at a service station in Sutton Forest at 9.10am earlier that day.
The 16-year-old girl was refused bail and will appear at a children's court on Thursday, March 12.
The three male passengers will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.
Southern Highlands Officer in Charge Inspector John Klepczarek said that high speed pursuits weren't a common occurrence in the Southern Highlands.
"However with the Hume Highway we do unfortunately find vehicles travelling sometimes up to 200 km," he said.
"Public safety will always come first, so we will never engage a public pursuit if possible,
"The speed they reached and their manner of driving was pure stupidity, immaturity and a danger to themselves, the public and police.
"Instances like this do gobsmack police.
"Fortunately no one was injured."
