Driver flees after crash near Waipapa

Police say the driver of this car fled after causing a head-on crash on State Highway 10 near Waipapa. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A Kaeo man faces a raft of driving charges after allegedly fleeing from a crash on State Highway 10.

Senior Sergeant Peter Robinson, of Mid North police, was off-duty when he saw a man ''driving like an idiot'' in a Holden Astra hatchback about 3.45pm on Thursday.

Robinson said he then saw the southbound Astra cross the centreline just north of Kapiro, crash into a car heading north, and take off.

He alerted his on-duty colleagues and followed the driver as he turned onto Waipapa Rd, then drove down Kerikeri's Heritage Bypass and Hone Heke Rd, where the town's schools are clustered.

The driver is led away by police after a chase which ended off Kerikeri's Alderton Dr. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Officers nabbed the shirtless driver as he tried to flee down a private driveway off Alderton Drive.

Constable Mark Roberts said a 27-year-old man from the Kaeo area had been arrested and charged with failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

Further charges were added later of driving with excess breath alcohol, careless driving, and failing to stop for police.

The driver is due back in the Kaikohe District Court on December 17.

The other vehicle was extensively damaged with much of the driver's side pushed in but, remarkably, its two occupants were uninjured.