A hunt for a driver who sped through Melbourne's central Bourke Street, narrowly missing pedestrians, has ended with the arrest of a man in Ballarat.
Bryce O'Donnell, 20, was arrested in the regional Victorian city on Thursday afternoon, just hours after police accused him of being behind the wheel during last Thursday's dramatic traffic incident in the CBD.
Two photos were released of O'Donnell as part of a public appeal to track him down, with his whereabouts at the time unknown.
Police said he was known to be found in the Ballarat area.
He is now in custody assisting police, who say they are no longer looking for anyone else over the incident.
In scenes that brought back chilling memories of the deadly 2017 Bourke Street rampage, officers tried to pull over a green Mitsubishi Lancer at Swanston Street on January 28.
But the car sped away along Swanston Street before turning down Bourke Street, toward Elizabeth Street, after it was blocked by trams.
Police had followed the vehicle after conducting a routine number plate check and discovering it didn't match the car.
A male passenger got out of the car and ran away, as police drew their firearms in a bid to stop the driver.
The driver crashed into bollards while doing a U-turn on Bourke Street, with pedestrians taking cover behind them.
The car was later found without number plates at an underground car park on Ashworth Street in Albert Park.
