A police chase ended with suspected car thieves crashing into a Mini before attempting to hide near railway tracks.
Two men were arrested after being found on an embankment in Walton in an operation that saw a police helicopter scrambled to the scene.
Merseyside Police is now hunting for two other men also thought to have fled the crashed vehicle.
The incident started when a police patrol spotted a silver Ford Fiesta on Carisbrooke Road in Kirkdale at 2.20am on Friday morning.
On seeing the patrol car, the Fiesta sped off into Bellamy Road - prompting a pursuit by officers.
At 2.25am, police received a report the vehicle had hit a parked Mini Countryman on Morval Crescent.
Four men dressed in dark clothing were reported to have fled the vehicle, through shrubbery and in the direction of the railway line.
Police dog patrols, the National Police Air Service and British Transport Police supported the officers in a search that led to the arrest of two men on an embankment near Hillside Close in Walton.
A 26-year-old man and a 21-year-old man, both from Liverpool, were arrested on suspicion of unauthorised theft of a motor vehicle and failure to stop following a road traffic accident. The 26-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of driving while disqualified.
Both men were taken into custody for questioning.
Merseyside Police said CCTV and witness enquiries were ongoing to locate the other two men believed to have fled from the scene.
Inspector James Halpin said: “The arrests this morning are a great example of what we can achieve while working with our partners such as NPAS and the British Transport Police.
“There are two further men we would like to speak to in connection with the incident. If you saw anything or anyone suspicious in the Walton area in the early hours of this morning the please get in touch as information you hold could be vital to our enquiries.”
*Anyone with information is asked to contact Merseyside Police via Twitter (@MerPolCC) or call CrimestoppersUK, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or online, quoting reference 21000291454. You can also contact Crimestoppers via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.
