5 arrested after slow car pursuit

FIVE people were arrested after a slow but prolonged police pursuit across Toowoomba yesterday.

What ended with a car burnt out in a paddock on South Toowoomba just before 2pm began at 11.50am in Newtown when police spotted a stolen vehicle.

The white Range Rover was “driving within the rules”, according to a police spokesman, but officers followed the vehicle for two hours.

The car was seen driving within the speed limit and stopping for red lights while police were in tow, the spokesman said.

Several tyre spike sites were set up across the city, including at the top of the Range, in an effort to stop the vehicle but it drove around them.

However, one site on Stenner St successfully deflated the tyres and several members of the public converged on the vehicle to try and stop it.

The car, with five people inside, then left the road and into a paddock, the spokesman said.

The Toowoomba Dog Squad was called in to track the offenders when the car was found on fire, possibly caused by the heat of the rims on the grass.

Police arrested five people believed to be all men.

They were taken into custody and later charged.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services were called to extinguish the blaze sparked by the car.