West Auckland residents awoke to a "bang" early on Tuesday morning after a vehicle involved in a police pursuit crashed, leaving three occupants seriously injured.
Police spotted the vehicle speeding along Titirangi Road just after 2:30am.
When the car failed to stop a short chase began but police said it lasted just seconds before the vehicle crashed into a parked car on Atkinson Road.
The noise woke neighbours all along the street many of them raced outside to find emergency service staff already at work.
Neighbour Ebony Porter-Pomare told Newshub the crash woke her up with "a big bang".
"You knew it was metal so you knew it was a car accident. Then hearing the wailing of the people from the car, that was the worst thing."
Porter-Pomare said she saw emergency services arrive and cut out the vehicle's occupants.
"[It] was really sad to see," she said.
Three passengers, aged 18, 19 and 25, were taken to Auckland Hospital all with serious injuries. One is now in a stable condition while the others are critically injured, and seriously injured, but also in a stable condition.
A fourth passenger - a 17-year-old - was taken to North Shore Hospital with minor injuries.
A police investigation into the crash is underway and the incident has been referred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.
