The man who is in police custody after leading them on a high speed chase through Mount Maunganui on Tuesday morning was on the run owing to an alleged burglary.

The black Toyota Starlet was driven at speed all through Mount Maunganui and Papamoa when its driver sought to evade police. The vehicle is pictured here travelling on the wrong side of the road.

Police Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders says the 17 year old unemployed Mount Maunganui man was disturbed by police while committing a burglary in Papamoa at about 11am.

He fled, and police gave chase on foot, but were unable to catch him before he made it to the Toyota Starlet he had parked nearby.

The Starlet was a stolen vehicle and Glenn says it was soon spotted on the road by a police patrol, which in turn signalled the 17 year old to stop.

Glenn says he did not comply and fled, driving around Mount Maunganui and Papamoa with police giving chase.

He drove at speed through a combination of 50, 70 and 100kp/h areas.

Police resorted to using road spikes to stop the vehicle and successfully did so when they laid them on Kairua Road.

The car that had its tyre popped by road spikes.

The front left tyre of the Starlet was shredded and fell from the vehicle, forcing the driver to abandon the vehicle; this occurred at the roundabout near Baypark on Truman Lane.

The 17 year old did not give up to police at this stage though and ran away.

Police continued their pursuit by foot, but in this time, the man acquired a pushbike to aid him in evading his pursuers.

This did not work and he was soon apprehended by police on Franceciv Avenue.

The pursuit was a frustrating element for police.

'When are these people going to learn?” says Glenn.

'Fleeing from police in vehicles is fraught with danger and these offenders are exposing themselves, police and more importantly the community at large to unnecessary risk.

'When signalled by police to do so, the message is simply stop.”

The community's support in apprehending this 17 year old is appreciated by police, who found it helpful to have the public's eyes seeing for them where he was fleeing.

'Their input significantly contributed to the apprehension of this offender.”