A Wodonga man has been arrested after he allegedly assaulted his pregnant partner and a 10-month-old child before fleeing the scene with the baby.
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The 25-year-old man was arrested on the Hume Highway near Donnybrook, north of Melbourne, about 6pm and is assisting police with their inquiries.
The baby was found safe and well with the man.
Police spent almost six hours searching for the man in Melbourne's south-east after he fled a property in Mentone with the infant.
His car was later seen zigzagging in and out of traffic at high speed on the Monash Freeway on Tuesday afternoon.
The man left the Mentone property in an aqua-green Toyota Yaris sedan saying he would harm "the baby and himself," police said.
Ambulance Victoria said a woman in her 20s was taken to Monash Medical Centre with upper body injuries. She is in a stable condition.
After the man left the Mentone address in the Toyota Yaris, he was chased by police along the Monash Freeway. But just after 1pm, police lost sight of him near Eastlink.
Residents of the south-eastern suburbs took to social media to say they saw the car in Cranbourne and police helicopters hovering over Seaford and Cheltenham.
Witnesses have described chaotic scenes as the car "zigzagged" in and out of traffic at high speed on the freeway.
One man said he saw up to 15 cars, including 10 police cars and about five unmarked police vehicles, pursuing the suspect, who was driving at speeds of up to 180km/h.
"One [police unmarked police car] nearly hit me," a witness told radio station 3AW.
"My heart's really pumping at the moment ... [he] is swerving in and out traffic ...
"It's actually splitting traffic ... They've got to catch him real soon or there will be an accident."
Another witness said he saw more and more police cars joining the high-speed pursuit on the freeway.
"I was just cruising along and [the car] flew past in the left emergency lane," he told 3AW.
"I thought who is this maniac?"
