Catch of the day ... soggy end to police chase

Police officers, with the assistance of the Coastguard, arrest a man who had tried to elude them by swimming into Tauranga Harbour yesterday. Photo /Alan Gibson

A man was pulled from the freezing Tauranga harbour yesterday after allegedly trying to swim away from a huge police chase.

The middle-aged man was being questioned at Tauranga police headquarters last night in relation to a serious assault on an elderly man on 15th Ave.

More than 10 police cars surrounded the estuary between central Tauranga and Maungatapu at 3pm yesterday after the middle-aged man plunged into the harbour, apparently to evade officers.

Onlooker Allan Sherson, who runs a holiday park by the estuary, said he looked out his office window to see police pouring across his lawn.

"I didn't know we had that many police in all of Tauranga. They were all running, circling the water here. They rushed in here and asked for a dinghy, because this guy was getting away."

The fleeing man attempted to wade and swim through the waist-deep tide to the other side of the harbour, more than a kilometre away.

But after police lined the banks, he was apprehended in the middle of the harbour by a Coastguard vessel with officers on board.

Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker said the man had little chance of escape in the bitterly cold water and was brought in easily and without resistance.

He was wrapped in a thermal blanket and was taken away in an ambulance.

Police district communications adviser Jacky James said the man had not been arrested or charged, but was being interviewed last night.

In the morning, police had been called to an address about 500m from the estuary when a family member had become concerned for an 76-year-old relative inside.

Detective Senior Sergeant Lindsay Pilbrow said officers broke into the unit, where they found the elderly man with serious head injuries.

A St John ambulance spokesman said the man's wounds were "life-threatening" and he was unable to talk or stand while staff treated him.

He was taken to Tauranga Hospital and underwent surgery last night.

Police did not disclose the fleeing man's relationship to the resident.

Mr Pilbrow said an investigation had been launched which included speaking to the occupants of the house where the victim lived and residents in the surrounding properties.