Wild Princes Freeway chase
THREE people are in custody after a wild police pursuit that saw a stolen car speeding down the wrong side of the Princes Freeway, swerving into emergency lanes and smashing into other cars.
The stolen Nissan dual-cab ute was intercepted near Avalon Airport at Lara about 7am when police forced the vehicle off the road and into a wire barrier.
Officers had been tracking the car across Melbourne’s western suburbs for almost two hours.
The 23-year-old male driver from Ballarat and two female passengers — including one 24-year-old from Ballarat and one 30-year-old from Dandenong — were likely be charged with theft of a motor vehicle and culpable driving offences.
Geelong Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Guthrie said the pursuit started after reports of the car being stolen from a 7Eleven on Coburns Rd at Cobblebank at 5.20am.
“What we can gather is the owner of the vehicle had gone in to get a coffee and left his keys in the ignition and the car running and these people have seen the opportunity and jumped in and taken off in it,” SenSgt Guthrie said.
“The Air Wing had sighted it earlier on … it was going for a couple of hours.”
The Geelong Advertiser understands the offenders drove around Melton and through Bacchus Marsh before allegedly stealing petrol from the APCO service station at Lara.
They then drove towards Werribee and were finally caught heading towards Geelong near Avalon.
Sen-Sgt Guthrie said the car had sped down the wrong side of the road as well as emergency lanes at high speed.
“The driving was very dangerous,” he said. “They were putting a number of people in danger — not only themselves but innocent people that were going to work. We are very grateful and glad that we could bring it to an end without anyone getting seriously injured or any other persons being involved.”
Two other vehicles were struck by the stolen vehicle, with drivers with dashcam footage or those sideswiped being urged to come forward.
The male driver remains in Geelong hospital after suffering from minor injuries and a medical episode as a result of the collision.
The female drivers have been interviewed by police.
It is understood the offenders were known to police.