KEY POINTS:
A man on the run after two officers were shot at early this morning could be anywhere in the upper North Island, police have said.
They earlier said the man was armed and dangerous and could take extreme measures to evade capture.
Police named him as 40 year-old
Richard Alan Duthie of no fixed abode who has been on the run for some months.
There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest for drug offences and Detective Inspector Steve Wood said the man had an association with the drug P.
Duthie has had addresses throughout the upper North Island.
Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said police had not limited the area of their search and gang affiliations had not been ruled out.
Detective Inspector Steve Wood said: "This man is prepared to shoot at police and there's no telling what other lengths he's prepared to go to to maintain his freedom.
"We're doing all we can to try and track him down, but we always rely on members of the public for information when it comes to finding people who don't want to be found."
Police investigating the shooting said the two officers shot at with a pistol were lucky to get away from the scene unhurt.
Uniformed officers stopped a man - now believed to be Duthie - driving a blue Holden Commodore S, shortly after 2am on Sturges Rd, Henderson.
After speaking with the man, who they believe gave a false name, he drove off.
He was pursued into O'Neil's Rd in Swanson where he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a ditch.
When the officers approached they were verbally threatened with being shot, so retreated to consider their options.
When they reapproached the car, two shots were fired by the driver who then managed to manoeuvre the car out of the ditch and drive off.
The car was recovered by police in Ranui at about 8am and is being examined at Henderson Police Station.
The driver was not the registered owner of the car but it had not been reported stolen.
Duthie failed to appear in the Rotorua High Court on May 22 on charges related to drugs and featured on the Police 10/7 television show in July.
Detective Constable Dianne Lewis from the Tauranga police said Duthie failed to appear in the Rotorua High Court on charges of possessing and supplying methamphetamine in May.
Tauranga police were searching a property in September last year when they caught Duthie in a car with another person - Toni Crawford.
The pair were charged with the drug offences but Duthie failed to appear in court.
His co-acused has recently been released on bail, Ms Lewis said.
She said Duthie probably spent some time in Hamilton before travelling to Auckland.
Duthie is a Caucasian of medium to solid build, has sandy-coloured hair and a mole on the right side of his nose. He is 175 cm tall.
Police say he should not be approached and anyone with information should ring 111.
- NZHERALD STAFF, NEWSTALK ZB