A STOLEN vehicle has smashed into a police car, causing a major crash in Townsville and the hospitalisation of two officers.

A police spokesman said the stolen vehicle had gone through a red traffic signal at the intersection of Hervey Range Road and Thuringowa Drive at 9.33pm overnight.

“The car collided with a marked police car travelling through the intersection,” he said.

“The police car has then collided with another car travelling through the intersection.”

The driver of the stolen car did not remain at the scene and police are still looking for them.

Two police officers in the vehicle were transported to hospital and both have since been discharged.

Two police officers have been left injured and a family badly shaken after a stolen car raced through an intersection in Townsville, causing a multi-vehicle crash. #7News pic.twitter.com/X9C3y2T51g — 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) December 25, 2017

A spokesman for the Queensland Ambulance Service said one of the officers had a sore back and other minor injuries.

The other officer sustained a knee injury.

It’s believed the police were responding to an emergency medical incident when the crash took place.

The police vehicle was badly damaged by the incident.

Senior Sergeant Matt Lyons said there was debris spread over the road after the crash.

“It’s quite concerning that people are continuing to drive stolen vehicles in such a manner to cause such havoc,” he said.

It’s understood the stolen vehicle involved in the crash was a black Holden Commodore.

Stolen car does burnouts in Townsville Stolen car does burnouts in Townsville

Stolen cars causing chaos

The crash is the latest in a number of recent incidents involving stolen vehicles in the Townsville region.

On Christmas Eve a man allegedly rammed a police vehicle in the car park of the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

Police said the Suburu sedan had been earlier stolen from an address at Balmoral Drive at Castle Hill.

A young child was in the vehicle during that incident.

Later that day the Subaru took a wide left turn when exiting onto Old Common Road in Belgian Gardens and struck the front right side panel of the marked police car before driving erratically towards Bundock Street.

A 22-year-old Aitkenvale man, who was well-known to police, was arrested after being identified by members of the Rapid Action Patrol group.

media_camera The scene of the crash on the Bruce Highway: Photo Contributed

Street racing crash

Three elderly people were left for dead on the Bruce Highway on Friday after two stolen vehicles allegedly crashed into a third vehicle while racing.

The stolen vehicle was on the wrong side of the road and had to swerve to avoid an oncoming vehicle.

It then collided with the rear of the car with elderly people in it.

One of the stolen cars then stopped and collected the occupants of the other vehicle, and they allegedly left the elderly victims, who were injured, at the scene.

The offenders from that incident are still at large.

Teens behind the wheel of a stolen car on Flinders Highway Teens behind the wheel of a stolen car on Flinders Highway

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