A police car was rammed by a stolen truck in West Auckland on Friday morning.
A person was seen stealing a light truck from a car yard at about 12.30am.
Police said a patrol spotted the truck shortly afterwards and tried to stop it, but the truck rammed the car before being driven away.
No-one was hurt, but the police car was badly damaged. Other police cars then gave chase.
But Inspector Andy Brill said the truck went down the wrong way on the north-western motorway and the pursuit then had to be called off for safety reasons.
The truck has since been found abandoned in an industrial area near Lincoln Road, and the driver is the subject of a search.
