Sparks flew on Auckland’s Western Motorway last night as a hatchback allegedly stolen by three teens lost a wheel and continued to swerve wildly on its brake disk during a police chase.

When the car eventually pulled to a stop just before St Luke’s off ramp, two youths and a 19-year-old exited the car in the middle of the highway and ran into the bushes on foot.

A witness to the car chase said they were in an Uber behind the car after getting on to the long raised onramp to the Western Motorway from Hobson St in the Auckland CBD.

The Uber passenger began to film the erratic driving once the car lost a wheel.

“On the onramp he was just driving really fast and swerving and we just thought [it’s a] crazy driver,” the witness said.

“They proceeded to keep doing that and their wheel came flying off and hit the median barrier and they just kept swerving the driving on their brake disk.

“[When] . . . the wheel completely came off . . . we expected them to pull over at that point.

“But they just kept going and we were like ‘that’s weird’.”

The witness said there was a “barricade” of cars driving slowly behind the hatchback including two police cars.

Once the car stopped and the three occupants ran, the police stopped and officers chased them on foot.

A police spokesperson said they were notified of a stolen vehicle driving erratically on the corner of Shortland St and Queen St at 10.38pm last night.

Police then activated their lights and sirens to get the vehicle to stop but the driver refused to.

The vehicle came to a stop around 11pm on the Northwestern Motorway, police said.

A 19-year-old and two youths were taken into custody. The 19-year-old is due to appear in court next Tuesday on several charges including failing to stop when followed and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.

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