A 20-year-old driver was arrested after a nearly 16-hour New Zealand police chase across the South Island in October 2016. The pursuit covered about 720 kilometers and ended near Dunedin; he faced charges of driving without being legally permitted and evading police.
The pursuit began at 1 a.m. in Stoke near Nelson and ended close to 5 p.m. in Waikouaiti near Dunedin. The driver abandoned a blue Subaru station wagon near Matanaka Drive and fled on foot before police and a dog unit caught him.
Police tried to stop the car three times in the early hours but called off each attempt because the driving was deemed too dangerous, resuming when conditions allowed. In Palmerston, witness Ricky James estimated the Subaru's speed at 180–200 km/h on a road with a 50 km/h limit. No one was injured.
