A teenager has allegedly stolen a police car that he was handcuffed in the back of at Auckland Airport this morning.
Police say they were assisting Oranga Tamariki in the transport of a 16-year-old male on a flight from Auckland bound for Wellington when the incident occurred.
The teenager was handcuffed in the back of a marked police vehicle at Auckland Airport police station when he allegedly managed to get into the driver's seat and took off while police were out of the vehicle.
Police say he then drove through a closed roller door and fled the scene.
The vehicle was followed overhead by a police Eagle helicopter, and was located by police abandoned outside an address in Randwick Park.
Police surrounded the address around 11am and the teenager was apprehended and taken into custody.
He will be appearing in the Youth Court this afternoon on charges of unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, dangerous driving and escaping custody.
Police cannot rule out further charges.
Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Jill Rogers, says this was a serious incident and will be carrying out a review to establish the full circumstances around how this occurred.
"Thankfully no one was injured during this incident. An internal review will be carried out to ensure the officers followed best practice and to see what, if any learnings we can take from this incident."
The matter will be referred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
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