Two hurt after stolen vehicle crash in NSW

A teenage boy and a man are under police guard in a Newcastle hospital after crashing an allegedly stolen car into a tree.

Police say the pair broke into a home in Charlestown, southwest of Newcastle, in the early hours of Monday and stole a wallet and the keys to a station wagon before fleeing in the car.

Officers were later called to a crash at an intersection in Highfields where they found the 26-year-old driver with serious head injuries and a 17-year-old boy with multiple injuries. Both were taken to John Hunter Hospital and charges are expected to be laid.