In an escapade almost worthy of the cult movie Goodbye Pork Pie - a large man driving a small yellow car led police on a chase through the rural Bay of Islands before ditching his wheels and legging it over farmland.
The pursuit began near Waipapa about 8.30am on Friday when an officer tried to stop the driver of a Suzuki Swift which had been clocked doing 112km/h in a 100km/h zone. The relatively minor offence would have led to an $80 fine at most.
Instead of pulling over, however, the driver allegedly fled south on State Highway 10 at speed, then turned on to Waimate North Rd and finally on to unsealed, dead-end Okokako Rd. Pursuing police clocked the aptly named Swift at 159km/h in an 80km/h zone on SH10.
The driver, described as a solidly built Pakeha in his 40s, abandoned the bright yellow Swift near the end of Okokako Rd and fled on foot.
Sergeant Tony Dunckley, of the Mid North road policing unit, said an officer gave chase on foot but called for a dog unit when the alleged offender disappeared into bush.