A man has been charged after an allegedly stolen 4WD sped through a Melbourne shopping centre.

Crowds of people scrambled to safety inside Northland Shopping Centre as a white Toyota LandCruiser raced through the building about 4pm on Wednesday.

Police were initially called to reports of a stolen car and allege the driver rammed their vehicle “several times” when they tried to block the vehicle in.

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It was then driven about 15m from where it was parked into the front of the shopping centre.

Vision obtained by 7NEWS showed the car smashing through sliding doors and steamrolling a bollard on its way out.

Authorities allege the driver steered through the centre as “a means to get away from police” and was not targeting anyone inside. No one was injured in the chaos, but one woman was treated for shock.

On Thursday morning police arrested a 27-year-old man at an address in Hoddle St, East Melbourne.

He has since been charged with several offences including reckless conduct endangering life, drive whilst disqualified and criminal damage.

Police say the car involved in the incident was allegedly stolen from a home on King St, Ivanhoe East on June 2.

“It is believed an electronic key reprogramming tool was used to steal the LandCruiser without the vehicle’s keys,” Victoria Police said.

Police allegedly found the car dumped in Northcote just over an hour after the shopping centre incident.

Northland was evacuated again on Thursday following reports of smoke inside the building.

Fire Rescue Victoria said crews who attended found an electrical light producing the smoke.

Northland shopping centre was also locked down last month when machetes were used during a brawl involving about 10 people.

Anyone with any footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.