A man has been arrested following a dramatic police chase through Melbourne that caused several collisions and significant traffic delays.
Police were first called to St Kilda Road around 5.40am on Friday following reports that a man’s van had been stolen.
The stolen van was later spotted in Footscray and tracked by the Air Wing and police on the ground as it travelled erratically through suburbs including Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Spotswood, Sunshine, Point Cook, Carnegie and Dandenong.
Police said the van collided with several parked and moving vehicles during the pursuit.
“At this stage it understood there are no serious injuries,” police said in a statement.
The chase came to an end just after 1pm when the van crashed into a street sign at the intersection of Dunnings and Palmers roads in Point Cook. The driver – a 36-year-old man from Point Cook – leapt from the van and attempted to flee on foot before he was struck by an unmarked police car.
A driver climbs out a van that was pursued by police across Melbourne.Credit: Nine News
Police arrested the driver who suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to hospital under police guard.
Footage from Nine News shows the man swerving the damaged van between lanes, clipping multiple cars, and narrowly avoiding others during the wild chase.
The incident caused widespread traffic disruption. Two outbound lanes were closed on the West Gate Bridge following a multi-vehicle crash, with emergency services on site and speed limits reduced to 40km/h.
Annette, a caller to ABC Melbourne radio, said she had seen a van speeding past her, followed by many police cars.
The driver lying on the road next to a van that was pursued by police.Credit: Nine News
“We were just sort of on the Geelong side of the West Gate and a white van came past us, it nearly hit us, and it had pieces of it hanging off and sparks coming off it. And about eight police cars, plain cars, came past weaving in and out chasing it,” she said.
“And then we get down the road ... and another five police cars came past, then three more. So many police cars weaving in and out. It was quite scary.”
She said at one of the exits on the freeway at either Werribee or Point Cook, the van seemed to have hit several vehicles which had ended up on the side of the road.
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