'There would have been bits everywhere'

A suspected drunk driver on the run handed himself into police when he collided with an off-duty constable's car.

The driver had allegedly crashed and sped his way around Rotorua before running into the off-duty New Plymouth policeman on Pandora Ave.

The officer wrestled the driver to the ground and held him down with the help of three others.

Ironically, another off-duty policeman had earlier called police about the driver after he allegedly stole $104 worth of petrol from Fenton St's Shell Service station.

Before the driver was caught, he nearly collided with two Fenton St Shell service station workers, crashed at least three times and had countless near misses.

Acting Sergeant Richard Collier, of Rotorua, saw the driver allegedly overtake cars on the Koutu overbridge while doing about 120km/h.

"I thought I was going to witness as close to an atomic bomb as what I've seen in the job. If cars were coming the other way, there would have been bits everywhere. It's a miracle no one is seriously hurt."

The drama started at Shell Fenton St about 3.30pm yesterday when the man filled a Mitsubishi Galant with $104 worth of petrol without paying for the fuel.







The driver allegedly sped off through the Central Mall carpark, narrowly missing two Shell staff members.

An off-duty officer at the service station called police.

Shortly after, Mr Collier saw the driver on Ranolf St.

"He (allegedly) went through the red light on Ranolf and Lake roads and overtook the cars on the wrong side of the road. He was travelling too fast for me to catch him. There was too much traffic."

The driver turned left on to Old Taupo Rd, crashing into the median strip as he rounded the corner.

The driver then turned right on to Sunset Rd and right on to Edmond Rd where he crashed into a car before turning around and heading back on to Sunset Rd and Pandora Ave. He collided with Constable Tony Brownrigg from New Plymouth, who was in Rotorua for the weekend.

The driver allegedly threatened Mr Brownrigg with a bottle, kicked the tyres of the off-duty officer's car and tried to take the keys from his ignition.

Pandora Ave resident Kane Fleet heard the yelling and ran out to help. "He [Constable Brownrigg] was holding him down ... In the end it took four of us to hold him down when other neighbours came out."

Mr Brownrigg told the Daily Post he was "not impressed" about getting caught up in the drama.

"I came here to get away from criminals," he said.

The driver was charged with two counts of assault with a blunt instrument, theft, common assault, possession of an offensive weapon, failing to stop after a crash, reckless driving, dangerous driving and breaching bail. Police are awaiting results of a blood test for alcohol.

The man was to appear in the Rotorua District Court today.

Meanwhile, police are staggered no one was killed or seriously hurt yesterday after motorists failed to slow down on icy roads.

Three cars hit black ice and spun out on the same corner at Tarukenga, 10km north of Rotorua, yesterday.

Constable Colin Robson said police were called to State Highway 5 at 7.15am after a van lost control on a bend near Tarukenga Marae.

The driver of the van was not hurt despite the vehicle landing on its roof.

Mr Robson was in a second police car that arrived just after 7.30am to help. He said two other cars were found in a ditch further up the road. These had also hit the black ice and spun out. Mr Robson said he went up the hill to warn drivers to slow down.

"The public just weren't opening their eyes. They were still bombing it."