Hamilton polilce have arrested a man after a marked patrol car was stolen as a get-away car at a crash scene.
After the crash in the suburb of Melville just after 7am on Saturday, the driver took off and hid in a house.
Passers-by told officers where she was but while they were looking for her, her passenger got into a patrol car and drove away.
The car was found undamaged 20 minutes later, by Lake Rotoroa.
The police now say they have arrested a man, who claims he did not know it was a police car he got into - despite it being a marked car with flashing lights.
