A 16-year-old boy is under police guard at the John Hunter Hospital following a crash at Shortland overnight.
Officers were patrolling Sandgate Road just after midnight when they saw a silver Toyota Camry allegedly travelling at high speed,
They activated their lights to stop the driver but the car left the road, hitting a kerb and then a tree.
The teenager freed himself from the vehicle and was checked by paramedics before being taken to hospital, where he remains in a stable condition.
Police say at no stage was a pursuit initiated.
