Police have released CCTV footage of a man they allege drove at "breakneck" speeds through Melbourne's CBD, including along tram tracks, and hit at least four cars, while trying to evade police during peak hour traffic on Tuesday.

The incident prompted a major security alert after police spotted the stolen car on Flinders Street and tried to stop it.

As police approached the vehicle, they turned on their lights and the car took off. Police backed off, hoping the driver would slow down.

CCTV footage showed the car speeding off in "a blur", Victoria Police Detective Senior Constable Michael Tobin said, with a witness saying it was probably travelling at 100 kilometres per hour and it was hitting cars along the way.

Two of the damaged cars involved in the hit-and-runs in Melbourne's CBD. ( AAP: James Ross )

"It's a 40kph zone in the city — in the footage I saw the other cars are clear …and his is a blur coming past," Detective Senior Constable Tobin said.

The car collided with another vehicle at Collins and Williams streets, then another at Latrobe and William streets.

Then it went down side streets to A'Beckett St, where it collided with another two cars, one parked and a second one stopped in traffic, when it tried to pass between them.

Police are still hunting for the driver who fled the scene after the car crashed. ( Supplied: Channel 10 )

"When he did that he ricocheted into a traffic light which has fallen on a pedestrian, which has caused injuries," Detective Senior Constable Tobin said.

"I've been to a number of those incidents. It's mind-numbing that he went so fast considering the time of day at 5:00pm when a lot of people are out going home.

"It was completely reckless and [he had] no concerns for anyone else."

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told ABC Radio the actions were "appalling".

"It's just gutless really," he said.

"You see you've injured someone and take off. It's selfish and gutless stuff."

Detective Senior Constable Tobin said it looked like the driver was trying to escape from police, which is why they were quick to rule out terrorism.

"It wasn't a deliberate attack to try and run over people; he was just trying to get away," he said.

"After the collision that injured the pedestrian he hasn't even stopped to think, he's just jumped out of the car and run off straight away and collided with two cars before that and didn't stop to see if they were OK."

The man hit by the traffic light was not seriously injured.

The car hit a street light trying to drive between a line of traffic and parked cars. ( AAP: James Ross )

Clear CCTV image of suspect

Police say with such a clear image of the man, it is only a matter of time before he is identified and arrested. ( Supplied: Victoria Police )

Police have more than 35 witnesses to the incident and are appealing for anyone with CCTV, dashcam or phone footage to contact Crime Stoppers.

The car involved, which was stolen five days ago from Bellfield, was spotted at Reservoir, in Melbourne's north on Monday, and police have clear CCTV footage of the suspected driver.

The suspect is believed to be between 25 and 30 years of age, with a medium to solid build, fair complexion and balding hair.

He was wearing a grey cap, black clothing and red shoes. In other CCTV footage, he is seen shedding some of his clothing to try to change his appearance.

"[It] might be better if he hands himself in rather than us coming to find him," Detective Senior Constable Tobin said.

"With the clear images we have of him in the vehicle before the incident and after the incident there's really nowhere else to run. We'll obviously work out who he is."

Melbourne's Lord Mayor Sally Capp praised police for their handling of the incident and said they were alerted to the incident quickly because of the CCTV coverage in the city.

She said after a number of incidents, local residents were becoming more resilient.

"On the whole I think Melburnians do feel safe in our city," she said.

"That's demonstrated by the fact our crime numbers have been going down over time. We do, as a big city, see these random acts occur and it's how we respond to those random acts [that matters]."