Two offenders overpowered a police officer and took off after stripping a house of copper in Waikato, police say.
North Waikato response manager Senior Sergeant Gill Meadows said a member of the public called police after seeing two men acting suspiciously around a house in Ngaruawahia.
"On arriving [the policeofficer] found two men stripping a house of copper who claimed to be working for a named company," she said.
The officer looked up the company, called them and was told the two men had nothing to do with it.
As the officer was telling the men they were under arrest they allegedly threw her to the ground and drove away south-bound on State Highway One.
"The officer activated her Officer Safety Alarm which alerted the Northern Communications Centre that she was in trouble, providing GPS co-ordinates to other staff," said Ms Meadows.
"There were a number of road policing staff in the area and a police dog and handler in the north of Hamilton, as the offenders sped south towards the city those staff were able to converge on the area."
When the offenders got to Horotiu they then turned north on to the Waikato Expressway towards Taupiri, police said.
Road spikes were laid and the men drove onto a grass verge to avoid the spikes at the roundabout at Taupiri.
They leaped from the car and began to run. One of the men was tackled by a landscaper at the site and the other caught by a police dog handler about 10 minutes later.
Two men from Manurewa aged 34 and 23 are now being interviewed by police.
