Three teens are facing charges following a high-speed pursuit and subsequent crash in Halifax.

Police were called to the single-vehicle accident on the Northwest Arm Drive exit off Highway 102 early Friday.

The director of Nova Scotia’s Serious Response Team, Ron MacDonald, says an officer attempted to pull over a sport utility vehicle on St. Margaret’s Bay Road shortly after 4 a.m., but the vehicle did not stop.

Instead, it continued onto Highway 103 with police in pursuit.

The driver then lost control of the SUV as it took the exit off Highway 102, causing it to flip over a guardrail and land on its roof.

MacDonald says two passengers fled the scene while the driver was taken to the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital with serious injuries.

A K9 unit helped police track down the two passengers, who were arrested at the scene.

After the crash, police discovered the vehicle had been stolen overnight.

Christian Carey, 19, of Halifax faces charges of theft of a motor vehicle over $5,000 and possession of stolen property over $5,000.

He appeared in Halifax provincial court Friday afternoon.

A 14-year-old male youth from Halifax is facing the same charges, as well as six breaches of court orders.

He appeared in Halifax Provincial Youth Court Friday afternoon.

“The 18-year-old male driver is still in hospital,” confirms Const. Pierre Bourdages.

He is facing charges of theft of a motor vehicle over $5,000, possession of stolen property over $5,000, flight from police and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

MacDonald won’t say why the officers attempted to pull the driver over to begin with.

“There are some background facts that I’m not really prepared to release at this point, that were relevant to the police officer at the time,” he says.

Both ramps onto Highway 102 were closed for nearly seven hours Friday morning as SIRT investigated.

MacDonald says the ramps were closed for so long because the officers had to wait for his team to arrive.

“The SIRT mandate is to investigate any matter that arises out of the actions of a police officer that leads to a serious injury,” says MacDonald. “There doesn’t have to be any wrongdoing.”

SIRT is now investigating to determine whether criminal charges should be laid against the police officers involved in the incident.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell