Two men face charges after a Rotorua policeman was allegedly bashed and then clipped by a car after he stopped a drink driver.
One of the men has been charged with failing to stop, drink driving, reckless driving and aggravated assault. A second man has also been chargedwith aggravated assault.
They are both due to appear in the Rotorua District Court next week.
Senior Constable Stephen Murray, of the Bay of Plenty Traffic Alcohol Group, was allegedly punched in the face by the passenger of a car he pulled over for a check in Goldie St shortly before 12am on Thursday.
He was hit by the car as it drove off.
Mr Murray got in his patrol car and chased the vehicle around Western Heights and the Fordlands areas.
After being blocked by Mr Murray's car, the driver allegedly abandoned his car and ran off.
A man was later tracked by a police dog and arrested.
Mr Murray was taken to Rotorua Hospital's emergency department and was yesterday at home nursing bruises, a sore head and hip.
It was an action-packed night for Mr Murray who foiled another attempted escape of a driver just a few hours earlier by reaching into the car's open window at traffic lights on Old Taupo Rd and grabbing the keys out of the ignition.
Last year, his hand was broken in Tauranga during a "scuffle" with a drunken driver.
