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 police officer] 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.