TWO youths have been arrested and charged while a mother with her baby have narrowly avoided injury after a dramatic afternoon on Ballarat's streets which resulted in an allegedly stolen car crashing at one of the city's busiest intersections.
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The pair driving a maroon Rav 4 led police on a pursuit through Ballarat's suburbs, causing a brief lockdown of Sebastopol's Phoenix P-12 Community College just after 1pm.
The offenders were allegedly seen driving erratically through Redan, before the car ran into a street sign on Dana Street outside the Ballarat Police Station.
It finally crashed at the corner of Humffray and Mair streets in Bakery Hill.
The two teenagers are expected to appear in the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
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The two people believed to be in the car then made a run for it, before being apprehended in nearby Scott Parade with the assistance of a community member.
After reports of the out-of-control vehicle, police chose not to chase the car on the road, but brought in the airwing to track its movements.
Senior Sergeant Tony Coxall said the pursuit lasted over an hour and included areas around Ballarat Central, Sebastopol and the Canadian Forest.
"Due to the nature of the driving, police did not engage in pursuit of the vehicle, but we did have a tactical observation platform through our police airwing," he said.
"Two males have been taken into custody and they have been wanted over a series of offending over the last couple of days, including aggravated burglaries. The two offenders got out of the vehicle and ran away on foot, where a citizen assisted in apprehending them."
Senior Sergeant Coxall said it was incredibly lucky no-one was injured or killed.
"What we have here is a decision made by an offender to drive in a manner that is totally reckless and dangerous and this is the result of that," he said.
"Our absolute concerns are for the safety of the community and in this instance the police had pulled back from the vehicle and a conscious decision was made by this driver to continue. It was obvious to us, he wasn't going to stop."
Senior Sergeant Coxall said police would investigate a range of alleged crimes which they believe had been committed by these two offenders, with upwards of "seven or eight serious offences" among those.
Anyone with information about the crash or offending is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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